Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, celebrates profitable his match towards Alexandre Muller, of France, in the course of the first spherical of the U.S. Open tennis championships on August 29, 2023, in New York.| Photo Credit: AP

Novak Djokovic is again on the U.S. Open and can now be again at No. 1 within the rankings.

Djokovic made a profitable return after lacking the event final 12 months, rolling to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Alexandre Muller on Monday evening.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion needed to wait via Coco Gauff's three-set victory to open the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium, adopted by an opening-night ceremony marking 50 years of equal prize cash on the U.S. Open.

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“Well, I knew it was going to be a late night for me, late start of the match,” Djokovic stated. “Nevertheless, I mean, I was excited to go out on the court. I didn’t care if I started after midnight because I was looking forward to this moment for a few years, to be out on the biggest stadium in our sport, the loudest stadium in our sport, playing the night session.”

Djokovic was not allowed to journey to the U.S. final 12 months as a result of he was not vaccinated towards COVID-19. Monday was his first match in Flushing Meadows since falling to Daniil Medvedev within the 2021 closing, a loss that prevented the Serbian from finishing the primary calendar-year Grand Slam in males's tennis since 1969.

The No. 2 seed took the primary set in simply 23 minutes and gained the primary eight video games earlier than Muller lastly received on the board, elevating his arms in triumph after reducing it to 2-1 within the second set.

“I think the performance explains how I felt tonight, particularly in the first two sets. It was kind of lights-out tennis really, almost flawless, perfect first set,” Djokovic stated. “I’ve probably had the answer for every shot he had in his book.”

Djokovic improved to 17-0 in first-round matches on the U.S. Open and guaranteed he'll regain the No. 1 rating on September 11. Because he could not play final 12 months and had no rankings factors to defend, Djokovic wanted solely get to the second spherical to ensure he would take the highest spot again from Carlos Alcaraz. It will likely be Djokovic's 390th week atop the rankings, extending his personal file.