Novak Djokovic cruised into the first US Open match since the 2021 final

Djokovic made a triumphant return after losing in last year’s tournament, cruising to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Alexandre Muller on Monday night.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion had to wait out a three-set victory over Coco Gauff to open the night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, followed by an opening-night ceremony marking 50 years of equal prize in US Open.

“Well, I know it’s a late night for me, a late start to the game,” Djokovic said. “However, I mean, I’m excited to go out on the court. I don’t care if I start after midnight because I’ve been waiting for this moment for a few years, to go out in the biggest stadium in our sport, the loudest stadium of our sport, playing the night session.”

Djokovic was not allowed to travel to the US last year because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Monday will be his first match at Flushing Meadows since falling to Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 final, a loss that prevented the Serbian from completing the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969.

Fans let the 36-year-old know they missed him, booing Djokovic as he exited the tunnel to the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He clearly missed them as he embraced the cheers of the record crowd of over 30,000 that included former president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.

“I’m excited to be out on court, it’s been a few years so coming in front of you is always a pleasure,” Djokovic told the New York crowd. “Thank you for coming out and thank you to all the people who stayed up until almost 1 am.

“Night sessions at Arthur Ashe are always special.”

The No. 2 seed took the first set in just 23 minutes and won the first eight games before Muller finally got on the board, raising his arms in victory after cutting it to 2-1 in the second set.

“I think the performance explained how I felt tonight, especially in the first two sets. It was kind of lights-out tennis really, almost flawless, perfect first set ,” said Djokovic. “I probably have the answer to every shot he has in his book.”

Djokovic improved to 17-0 in first-round matches at the US Open and is confident he will regain the No. 1 rank on Sept. to the second round to guarantee that he will take the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz. This is Djokovic’s 390th week at the top of the rankings, extending his own record.

Alcaraz, who defeated Djokovic in an epic Wimbledon final in July, opens his title defense on Tuesday against Germany’s Dominik Koepfer.

Meanwhile, next to Djokovic is Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles, who is a straight-set winner against American Ethan Quinn.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.