Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Nick Kyrgios

Novak Djokovic has played his way into the second round of the 2024 US Open with an easy win over Radu Albot 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Next up for Djokovic is fellow Serbian Laslo Djere. Djere gave Djokovic an extremely tough fight at the 2023 US Open, as Djokovic had to win in five sets.

With his victory over Albot, the Serb broke a rather accidental record that could only be achieved through great success over a long period of time. Djokovic won the 78th match of his career at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the most wins ever for a male player.

The record for most wins by a male player at this tournament is 98, held by Jimmy Connors. Djokovic currently has 89 wins at this event and if he wins the title again he will come close to Connors’ number, but would need to win five more next year to surpass the mark. With all the records he has already broken, it is doubtful that the Serb will be able to keep them all in his head.

Nick Kyrgios, on the other hand, can’t seem to get Jannik Sinner out of his mind. Sinner, the ATP number 1, tested positive for a banned substance twice in March. After an investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, it was determined that the Italian had done nothing wrong intentionally. He was not suspended, although players in the same situation, such as Simona Halep, were almost immediately suspended from the sport.

Kyrgios found the way Sinner was treated was inconsistent with standard tennis practice and said Sinner should have been banned for two years until he could otherwise prove his innocence. Part of the problem with Kyrgios’ interpretation was that he was inaccurate about how long the substance clostebol found in Sinner’s system had been in the body.

Kyrgios believes that the substance disappears after just a few hours. In reality, the substance can be present in the body for several days. During a recent discussion with ESPN, Kyrgios reiterated his criticism of Sinner’s situation.

He said: “We’ve seen players like Halep and everyone else and it seems like every time one of these things happens, there’s a different process for each player. This is not at all directed at Sinner personally… He’s one of the best tennis players we have right now… Someone like Sinner just does it his own way. I think he’s done it his own way most of the time. I don’t think that’s fair and equal for the rest of the tour.”

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