US OPEN

September 6, 2021

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/J. Brooksby

1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Can you give us your thoughts on the match.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think great quality match. He started off better. I've never played him. I didn't see him play too many times. Maybe few matches in the last few months. Haven't followed his career prior to that, so I didn't know much about him. Had to do some homework and some analysis.

It's different stepping out on the court first time against someone that really has nothing to lose. He's a young, talented player that is very crafty. He's got the really all-around game. He was pumped. He had the crowd behind him, of course. He played a perfect first set. Everything he intended to do he executed it perfectly.

On my end, I was just trying to find a rhythm, trying to read his game, trying to understand where I can find holes in his game and start to attack and shift the momentum to my side.

That happened already at the beginning of the second set. I broke him early. He broke back. But I re-broke his serve right away. We had some very, very long rallies, long games. It took a toll physically I think on both of us at that point. But I managed to find the right serves. I served efficiently when I needed to, opening up the court.

The third and fourth set were really, really good from my side. I felt I was more dominant. I decreased the unforced errors that were really high in the first part of the match. I just was kind of swinging through the ball better.

Was a good finish. It wasn't a good start. But all in all, expected the battle, and I got that one. I'm pleased to overcome it.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Does he remind you of anybody you played before?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: He absorbs the pace very well, especially from the backhand side. He reminds me of Florian Mayer had this double-handed slice, very smart player. Maybe not the greatest mover, but Mayer just managed to play on the big stage pretty well against the players who try to penetrate the ball and kind of dictate the play, stay close to the line. He loved playing with the guys like that.

Brooksby reminds me of him a lot. But I think he's a better mover than Mayer. He's young. He's 20. He's got plenty of time. He showed also I think mental maturity on the court. Stepped in, and considering the circumstances, his first Arthur Ashe Stadium match, against me, night session, I think he managed himself very well. He was motivated and did his best. I have to congratulate him and say that I was impressed with his game but also with his behavior.

Yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of him in the future. I mean, he has the means. Now, obviously a lot of things have to come together, but he has a bit of an unorthodox game, does a lot with the feel. But he's smart. He knows how to win points.

Q. In the second set you broke right back, had this winner, running forehand. Kind of looked like you made eye contact with him for a few seconds. Was it like you were starting to figure him out there?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I can't recall exactly the point that you are referring to, but there was a couple of breaks of his serve that I made late in the second, early in the third that were crucial.

Of course, I really wanted him to feel my presence on the court. I wanted the energy to shift on my side because he was a better player for a set and a half. He had the momentum. He had me on the back foot.

I felt like that was the point where, Okay, now I got him. He also was struggling a little bit physically at one point. I wanted to wear him down, and it worked.

Q. A lot of people who became tennis players during this pandemic, picked up the game for the first time, do you think they watched that second set, saw how punishing it is, say, Maybe I'll try something else?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I must say that I'm very, very pleased with the amount of people that follow tennis in America. I mean, a lot of people come to US Open. A lot of people know tennis players particularly in New York during US Open.

It's phenomenal. We're blessed to have such attention and support. It's obviously one of the greatest tennis tournaments in the world. New York, it's one of the most important cities in the world, of course.

People I think missed the action, missed the entertainment, being locked up for more than a year. Now under certain conditions you are able to go and watch sports live, which is nice. I know that a lot of people back home for me, in my region, they follow and support.

Also it's phenomenal to see the packed-out Arthur Ashe. We haven't had a packed stadium for a year and a half really in tennis. We don't want to take this for granted because we are used to playing in front of the full stadiums over the years. I've been really fortunate to experience some incredible matches, incredible atmospheres over the years.

Last year and a half was tough for everyone, so it's really refreshing and it's really beautiful to see a full stadium.

Q. Without prying, would you mind if I asked you to share some of the words exchanged at the net. It seemed as if you both had something to say, seemed sincere.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it was me sharing. He didn't say anything. I didn't take that in a wrong way, of course. He lost the match and he was overwhelmed with the experience.

Of course, I sincerely felt what I shared with him on the net. I feel like he had a great match, it was a great fight. Tough to lose the match always, of course. But that he has impressed me as a player on the court. Also, as I mentioned, the way he fought.

A bright future is ahead of him. He just needs to keep going, keep working and keep believing because he's definitely got the game and he's got the means.

He's probably going to answer that better, but I think tonight's match can serve him incredibly well as an example of where his game is at at the moment.

He can play equally well with the top players in the world. It's a long way to get ranking-wise up there, but he's definitely on a good trail. He's going in the right direction.

Q. As you get closer and closer to making history, let's look back. What do you recall of your first match in a major in 2005 against Safin and your first major win against Ginepri?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I do recall one of the most profound memories of Australian Open 2005 when I qualified and played Safin night session, the center court, is that I was getting a haircut earlier that day. Wonderful lady, a hairdresser, asked me, Do you want to do something special for tonight?

I said, What are you suggesting?

She said, Maybe we should color your front part.

I've never done that in my life. So I said, You know what? Why not?

I was 17, 18 years old. If I'm going to come out on the stage, I might as well do it with style.

It wasn't really very satisfying for my mother to see that. The conversation we had after was not great for me. But we had a good laugh about it.

That seems like ages ago, and it is. I mean, it's been now 16 years since my first center court Grand Slam match, first official main draw match. It's been a while.

But what a great ride. I mean, it's difficult to reflect on everything while you're still, say, in the bus and you're still riding. It's kind of hard. People tend to ask me, How does it feel? Do you comprehend what you've done? Do you think about the whole journey?

Of course, I do. But tennis is such a sport that really you have to turn the next page the next day. You're done with this tournament. What's the next one? What's the next challenge? What's the next goal you need to achieve? Where are you heading?

You don't have much time really and energy to reflect on everything that you've been through. But I try to be grateful about it. Of course, I appreciate every single step in the journey.

One day, of course, when I don't play professional tennis anymore, I probably will have a little bit of a larger perspective on things and understand what I've been through a little bit better.

Q. Was that color green, I think? You had your hair colored green?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No. I can't recall. Blond, green, something like this.

Q. More importantly, looking ahead, you've played Matteo a number of times. What are your thoughts going into that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Hammer of tennis. Next to del Potro, probably the hardest hitter of serve and forehand. He's got the lethal-serve-plus-one game. He's already established as a top player. Without a doubt, he played a couple of I think semifinals here couple years ago, finals in Wimbledon. That was a tough four-setter.

Look, if he serves well, which is his biggest weapon, he's tough. He's tough on any surface to play against. I've had some really close matches with him in French Open and Wimbledon recently.

We're going to play the third Grand Slam in a row against each other. Hopefully the result will be the same like the previous two.