U.S. Open: Novak Djokovic gets refreshing break from the heat and a victory

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes glimpse at Tuesday’s U.S. Open:

Reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic was leading Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, the world’s 40th-ranked player, two sets to one, when the Extreme Heat Policy kicked in and the adversaries were afforded a 10-minute timeout to cool off.

“It was funny,” Djokovic said. “Marton and I had the ice baths, one next to the other. So we were in the two baths, we were naked in the ice baths and it was quite a wonderful feeling, you know. Battling with a guy for two and a half hours and then you get into the locker room and you haven’t finished the match and you’re naked in the ice baths. It was quite a magnificent feeling, I must say.”

Too much information?

There was also this off-the-court tidbit (a little less salacious):

Rising German star Alexander Zverev, only 21 and ranked No. 4 in the world but so far having reached only one major-tournament quarterfinal in 13 tries, is being coached for the first time by Ivan Lendl, who won eight Slam events in the 1980s and 1990s. Zverev reported that Lendl “takes quotes out of all different kinds of sports, from great, great athletes, great people” as a motivating tactic.

But were there any that have stuck with Zverev? “Right now I can’t remember one,” he said.

The tennis basics, then:

Djokovic prevailed in his first-round match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. He is feeling a bit like his old self, the winner of 13 major championships, on his comeback from elbow surgery. Last month’s Wimbledon title, his first at any tournament in 54 weeks, “was a huge relief, more than anything else,” he said.

“It took me about three, four months really to start playing consistently well, match after match,” Djokovic said. “I’ve never faced this situation before, so for me it was something new but something I had to face.”

The situation is similar to that of Roger Federer, who had won 17 Grand Slam tournaments when he was sidelined by knee surgery in 2016. He since has found his way back to the top with three more major-tournament titles—for a record 20—and a brief return to the No. 1 ranking. On Tuesday night Federer, as the No. 2 seed, commenced his 18th U.S. Open—he is the oldest man in the 128-player field at 37—with a cruising 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, ranked 177th. It was Federer’s 337th match won (he has lost 53) in 74 major tournament appearances.

Zverev, meanwhile, prevailed against Canadian Peter Polansky, ranked 119th, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. And another young player of note, Frances Tiafoe, Also won. In February Tiafoe, at 20, became the youngest American winner of a pro men’s tour event, with the Delray Beach title, since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Clay Courts in 2002. Tiafoe, ranked 44th, knocked off No. 29 seed Adrian Mannarino from France, 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Iced him on a hot day.