Novak Djokovic has his eyes on the last Grand Slam of the season, the US Open, in which he has already reached the third round. The world number one is now set to face Russia's Mikhail Youzhny at New York's Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday.
The Serbian, after a decent victory in the opening round against Jerzy Janowicz, was set to face Jiri Vesely in his second US Open 2016 match, but Djokovic was given a walkover with his opponent forced to withdraw due to an injury. Djokovic had lost a set against Janowicz in the first game.
The Russian, on the other hand, comes into this match against Djokovic in confident mood after knocking out 28th seed Martin Klizan in straight sets in the opening round. He played some amazing tennis to send the Slovak player home, and Youzhny continued his impressive form in the second round as well, defeating Guido Pella with 6-2, 6-1 and 7-6.
Youzhny has nothing to lose as he prepares for an epic battle against the top seed, who is the overall favourite to lift the title. The Russian will be under no pressure to perform so he can play his normal game and see if the champion can be stunned.
Make no mistake, Youzhny has the game to show Djokovic the exit doors. Youzhny has lost six matches against Djokovic, also defeated him three times. It shows that the Russian can pull an upset if Djokovic has an off day. But, to provide relief to Djokovic's fans, the Serbain last suffered defeat to Youzhny in 2010. Djokovic has also won their last four head-to-head meetings.
If Djokovic unleashes his A game, which includes a top class baseline and service game, in the third round, the Russian may not even get a sniff of victory. After losing in the third round of the Wimbledon and first round of the Rio Olympics, Djokovic will be ever so determined to come up with an amazing performance to progress to the next round of the competition.
All in all, a quality game is expected to take shape on Friday.
Where to watch live
Novak Djokovic vs Mikhail Youzhnyis the third match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The first match starts at 11 a.m local time (8.30 p.m. IST next day). Below is the live streaming and TV information for US Open 2016.
India: TV: Ten 1 and Ten 1 HD. Live Streaming:Tensports live.
US: TV: ESPN. Live Streaming:Watch ESPN.
Europe: TV: EuroSport. Live Streaming:EuroSport Player.
Canada: TV: TSN. Live Streaming:TSN TV.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming:Foxtel.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport. Live Streaming:Sky Go NZ.
Middle East: Bein Sports Arabia. Live Streaming:Bein Sports Connect.
China: TV: CCTV.
Japan: TV: Wowow TV.
International: Live Streaming:US Open website.
