World No. 1 Novak Djokovic faced a tough test in sixth seed Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals of the US Open today. As the Wimbledon final repeated itself under the lights in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Serbian lost the first set once again to keep a trend going.

Novak Djokovic drops first set for the ninth time in 2021

Djokovic struggled in the first set once again, as Berrettini broke his serve in the 11th game of the set. The Italian then held his serve to clinch the set 7-5, and take a confidence-boosting lead. This continued the top seed’s trend of dropping the first set in every match at this year’s US Open except his second round match against Tallon Griekspoor.

In addition, this was also the ninth time that the Serbian dropped a set in a Grand Slam this year. While four out of those nine came at the US Open, this was also the second time he dropped the first set in a match against Berrettini.

In their Wimbledon final earlier this year, the Italian won the first set 7-6 (7-4) in a tiebreaker. Djokovic also dropped the first set against Jack Draper in their opening match in the grass court Grand Slam.

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In the French Open, the Serbian dropped the first set in the semifinal against Rafael Nadal and the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. At the Australian Open, the Serbian dropped the first set against Alexander Zverev in their quarterfinal match.

However, in all those occasions, Djokovic went on to win the match. In the ongoing quarterfinal, the 34-year-old bounced back in emphatic fashion to take the second set against Berrettini. Can the Serbian continue his impressive run by furthering this statistic?

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