Novak Djokovic strolled into the US Open third round Wednesday with a 90-minute demolition of Andreas Haider-Maurer that even had Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx on his feet.
The world No 1 and 2011 champion, who is bidding to reach the final for the sixth time, eased to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over the 52nd-ranked Austrian.
It was the second match in succession that Djokovic had not faced a break point.
Serb top seed Djokovic, already with the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles under his belt this year, goes on to face Italian veteran Andreas Seppi for a place in the last-16.
Djokovic holds a 10-0 career lead over Seppi, the 25th seed.
His performance brought enthusiastic applause from Hollywood A-lister Foxx, the star of “Ray” and “Django Unchained” who was sitting just behind Djokovic’s coach Boris Becker in the players box on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Such was the ease of his night’s work that Djokovic marked his victory by dancing on court with a burly fan who presented the player with a matching “I Love NY” T-shirt
“It took a while to get on court. It’s not easy to start a match at 10pm,” said Djokovic.
“I have never played Andreas on a hard court before so it took a while to get used to his positioning.
“He has a big serve and it was tough at the start to get into the rallies.”
The humid conditions persuaded Djokovic to bring a box of sawdust onto court to dry his hands at changeovers.
“You need to be prepared,” he said. “Also, luckily, I have enough shirts.”
Haider-Maurer, meanwhile, walked away with almost $70,000 (Dh257,106) in prize money which will go a long way to footing the bill for his wedding, scheduled for September 12.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
