Novak Djokovic is relishing his return to the US Open tonight - and renewing his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz. The Serbian famous person’s final match within the Arthur Ashe Stadium resulted in tears when he misplaced the 2021 closing - and his probability to finish a calendar Grand Slam - to Daniil Medvedev.

Djokovic’s 2020 US Open had resulted in disqualification for hitting a line choose with a ball. But the belated appreciation of the powerful New York crowd two years in the past noticed Djokovic sobbing into his towel earlier than the tip of his heartbreaking defeat.

“I fell in love with the New Yorkers and New York in a completely different way that day,” he mentioned.

His refusal to get a Covid-19 vaccine noticed him banned from getting into the USA final summer season and he wanted day off after his five-set Wimbledon closing defeat to Alcaraz. But Djokovic’s return to the court docket and the USA noticed him achieve some revenge by successful a exceptional closing in opposition to the Spaniard on the Cincinnati Masters.

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Alcaraz stays at world No.1 by solely 20 factors and the highest two seeds stay on collision course for a fourth assembly of the yr on September 10.

The new Wimbledon champion is aiming to retain his title and win a 3rd Grand Slam on the age of 20. Djokovic, 36, is once more in search of to win his twenty fourth Major title and equal the document of Margaret Court.

“He's always pushing me to the limit,” mentioned three-time US Open champion Djokovic. “I think I do to him pretty much the same thing.

And before facing Frenchman Alexandre Muller in the night session in front of 23,000 fans, the world No.2 said: “I'm very excited that I'll be able to play the opening night on Monday. Come back in front of probably the loudest fans in sport, tennis fans in sport.

“There was no anger last year. During the Open, I felt it's a pity that I'm not there. I felt sad for not being able to participate. But this year is this year. I don't think about what happened in the last year or the last couple of years. Just focusing my attention on this year's tournament.”