Novak Djokovic shook off a back problem to beat Britain’s Cam Norrie in four sets on Friday to become the oldest man to reach the US Open last 16 since Jimmy Connors in 1991.
The 38-year-old Djokovic defeated Norrie 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-3, staying in the hunt for an unprecedented 25th major title.
But the Serbian star admitted that whether his body can still withstand the grind of a two-week-long Grand Slam is potentially beyond his control.
“In terms of how I’m feeling, it really goes up and down, to be honest,” said Djokovic, who was compromised by injury at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.
“It’s frustrating for me, honestly, that I’m not able to feel 100% always like I have for 20-plus years.
“I guess the circumstances are quite different, and I have to get used to the fact that every match there’s something that might happen, as it has been the case this year, pretty much every Slam.”
Novak Djokovic earned a record 192nd Grand Slam match win on hard courts and also tied Roger Federer’s mark of last-16 appearances at the majors with 69.
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The four-time US Open champion has designs on going much further, though, health permitting.
“If the body doesn’t listen to me when I go deep in the Grand Slam tournaments, as it was kind of the case last few Slams, then that’s a hard one to swallow for me,” said Djokovic.
“I know the amount of hours I’m putting in daily to care for my body, but at the same time, you know, biological age is not something that I guess you can reverse.”
Djokovic has now defeated Norrie in all seven of their meetings and is through to the fourth round in New York for the 16th time.
On Sunday, he will play German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff, who has already knocked out two seeds in Holger Rune and Frances Tiafoe.
A lone break of Norrie’s serve in the seventh game was enough for Djokovic to pocket the opening set, but not before he summoned the physio to work on his lower back.
Djokovic headed off court for a medical timeout and returned to serve out the first set.
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“I don’t know when it gets cold tomorrow, I’ll see what the reality is,” said Djokovic of the nature of his injury.
“I was lucky, lucky not to, you know, have that burden stay there. It was just there for a few games, and after that it was fine.”
He had the chance to make further inroads in the second set, but Norrie saved three break points and then pinched the tie-break from his rival, who double-faulted on set point.
Norrie took that momentum into the third set with an early break, drawing an emphatic response from Djokovic as he responded by winning four straight games.
Djokovic soon made the set his, and another break to start the fourth set gave him the cushion required to close out a milestone victory.
“These kinds of matches and performances always give me hope that I can go far, challenge the best players in the world,” said Djokovic.
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