Novak Djokovic could not bring his best in the opening set against American qualifier Zachary Svajda but prevailed in a four-set contest at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, on Wednesday. The Serbian claimed a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory to advance in the tournament.

Djokovic committed 14 unforced errors and could not find his A-game. In the tiebreaker, at 4-4, Svajda won two points in a row, to create two set-point opportunities. Djokovic was able to save one, but Svajda won the opening set by converting the second set point.

However, Djokovic was able to bounce back in the second set as Svajda struggled with his serve because of injury. In the third set, Svajda was able to break Djokovic’s serve in the fourth game but the Serbian came back into the contest and kept the momentum on his side till the end.

“Not that great to be honest,” Djokovic said when asked about his tennis. “I was not really happy with my tennis in the first part of the match but also credit to Zach for playing some really high-quality tennis. It was unfortunate that he struggled with injury towards the end of the second, but kudos to him for staying on the court. He obviously could not serve as well as he did for the first set and a half but I wish him all the best.”

After this win, Djokovic advanced to the third round at a major for a record 75th time, leapfrogging Roger Federer’s tally of 74. The Serbian admitted he has been working hard on his fitness at the fag end of his career.

“It is a little bit different in the past couple of years for me,” Djokovic said on his recent major results. “Kind of get a wear and tear quicker than I used to. I have to deal with that, a lot of recovery stuff off the court to try to make myself able to perform at the highest level for as many hours on the court.”

Djokovic will face Cameron Norrie in the third round on Friday.