Novak Djokovic plays down US Open injury concerns after laboured victory over Jerzy Janowicz

In a moment of theatricality you would never see at Wimbledon, Phil Collins opened the first evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium with two of his best-known songs. After that, the only thing “In The Air Tonight” was a sense of vulnerability about tournament favourite Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic has been plagued by physical pains and “private issues” in the months since his personal epiphany at the French Open, and in last night’s opener against Jerzy Janowicz he showed his hand early by calling the trainer at the second changeover.

A medical time-out ensued, in which the surprising thing was that Djokovic requested treatment on his right elbow rather than the sore left wrist which he had identified as the reason for his absence from Cincinnati a fortnight ago.

Novak Djokovic celebrates after his victory over Jerzy Janowicz at the US Open.

Whatever the problem was, it didn’t seem to prevent Djokovic from serving accurately – the key skill that carried him to a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory in 2hr 37min. But his all-round game was well short of its usual rhythm and self-assurance, and he dropped the second set via a slew of uncharacteristic errors.

Janowicz is not the most dangerous of opponents at the moment, judging by his world ranking of No. 247 and a record that shows his last ATP-level victory to have come in October. But he still rattled Djokovic with his unpredictable play, which featured numerous drop-shots as well as plenty of all-or-nothing wallops.

Janowicz’s ball-striking was never going to be consistent enough to score a win here, barring a total collapse from his opponent. But Jiri Vesely, the left-handed Czech who beat him in Monte Carlo in April, could prove a more challenging opponent for Djokovic in the second round.

Asked by the on-court interviewer about his medical time-out, Djokovic started by making a joke of the issue. “It was hard to put up a show after Phil Collins,” he replied, “but you know he’s a legend.” He then broke into a verse of “I Can’t Dance” from Genesis’s back catalogue, before finally engaging with the question when it was put to him a second time.

“It’s never easy to play at this level throughout the year,” said Djokovic. “There are periods when you are not feeling 100 per cent but I don’t think it’s necessary to talk about this now. I just take it day by day, and let’s keep on going.

“It was overall a good performance, particularly in the third and fourth sets, even if the first couple of sets were a bit up and down. Jerzy has an unpredictable serve. When the ball is going that speed you just react and pray that you can get it back.”

Novak Djokovic to turn the switch for the hardcourt season

The Serb, 29, cut his ties with tennis for a while following his early-exit at Wimbledon.

During the first half of 2016 season, all the highlights regarding tennis achievements were mostly related toNovak Djokovic. His consistency over the various tournaments whether it was hardcourt (Doha, Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami), or clay (Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros) brought him lots of trophies and also worldwide recognition. Then, it followed Wimbledon Championships, a syncope that few saw it coming. Still the Serb remains the leader of the ATP ranking in both rankings ( ATP Tour and ATP Race). One thing needs clearing: Djokovic played only big tournaments, namely Masters 1000 and Grand Slam with one sole exception- Doha.

Rio Olympics detour.

There are many players who chose not to play in Rio due to the inappropriate date.The Olympics cuts the American hardcourt season right in two. The organisers tried to please the vast majority by choosing also a hardcourt surface to play on. On top of this Zyka virus remains a major concern. The other days, top players like Milos Raonic or Tomas Berdych officially announced that they`ll not compete in Rio. On the same page is also Simona Halep. Though, Djokovic is expected to make a glorious run in Rio. It might be his best chance to clinch the golden medal in men`s singles. As he is already heading to 30, in 4 years from now, he might be too old to accomplish something big. The Serb`s best result at the Olympics occurred back in 2008 at Beijing when he finished the third winning the bronze medal. For Djokovic, 12 times Grand Slam winner, this fact is rather unsatisfactory.

Djokovic has few things to worry about in the near future.

When it comes to future of the ATP ranking, some majors changes are unlikely to occur throughout this season. Djokovic has around 5000 points ahead of Andy Murray. Still, there is one scenario which might bring in some extra heat. In the late August, the last Grand Slam of the year will catch the attention. Although it sounds unlikely, if Djokovic will suffer one more early exit as at Wimbledon happened andAndy Murray will win the gap will come down to less than 1000 points. Last year, the Serb won at the US Open by beating Roger Federer in the final rubber thus having to defend 2000 points. Murray lost in the 4th round, so the pressure is something easier to fight with.

Overall, Novak Djokovic dominated the past years on the ATP tour like no one did. If Wimbledon was just a syncope, it`s something to be seen over the following months. The Serb has both mental and physical strength to move forward and also to win other Masters ,Majors, gold medals and so on.

Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray in Madrid Open final

World number one Novak Djokovic beat defending champion Andy Murray 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the Madrid Open final.

The defeat means the 28-year-old Briton will lose his world number two ranking to Roger Federer on Monday.

The Scot was blown away in the opening set, but fought back to level, only to fall to the Serb's power and accuracy in the decider.

Djokovic now moves ahead of Spain's Rafael Nadal with a record 29 ATP Masters 1000 titles.

The Serb underlined his current dominance as he claimed his fifth title in the past six Masters tournaments but he was pushed hard by Murray, exemplified by a 14-minute final game as Djokovic survived six deuces and seven break points to hold for the match.

"The first couple of break points I remember making two mistakes," said Murray.

"It was kind of back and forth from there and unfortunately I couldn't quite break, which was a shame because both of us on the break points until that last game were pretty clinical."

Djokovic broke Murray's serve in the opening game and the 2011 winner gave a masterclass combining powerful ground shots with brutal accuracy as he found the lines with uncanny regularity.

Murray found his second serve coming under huge pressure and Djokovic duly earned a double break before racing to the first set in just 31 minutes.

In the second, however, the Scot's serve began to click into gear and, having won just 17% of points on his second serve in the first set, he increased it to an impressive 60% in the second.

Djokovic made crucial forehand and backhand errors in the third game before serving a double-fault to be broken for only the second time in the tournament.

The Madrid crowd who were muted as Murray beat local favourite Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-4 in Saturday's semi-finals were now encouraging the Briton, who responded with some of his best tennis of the week as he won the set with a cheeky drop shot from the back of the court.

It was Djokovic's turn to regroup and after a comfortable hold needed just one of two break points to take the early initiative in the decider.

But this was a different Murray from the opening set and the Scot immediately broke back with Djokovic again serving a double fault at the crucial moment.

Again, however, the world number one raised the bar and this time it proved crucial with a decisive break in the sixth game.

"When you play against the best players, you are probably not going to win every single time," said Murray. "But you want to make the matches extremely difficult for them: physically and mentally, so it's not comfortable. So I think at least today I did that, but unfortunately didn't get the win.

"It's been a positive week for me this week overal l- a few years ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be winning against Rafa and then pushing Novak this close on a clay court."

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

"Murray began the match a shadow of the man who had played so well in Madrid all week. The first set wasn't a contest, but once given an opening by the world number one early in the second, Murray started playing with real conviction, and pushed his man to the limit.

"At 2-2 in the decider the match was genuinely in the balance. Djokovic's response, though, was characteristically brilliant, and after surviving a bout of jitters and a 14-minute final game, he deservedly clinched his record 29th Masters series title."