Records are the only things that motivate Novak Djokovic at this stage of his career, and a 25th Major title would be a perfect exclamation point to a legendary career. With the US Open beginning in just a week’s time, the four-time champion in New York got the rub of the green, which will give him a potential advantage at the last Slam of the year.

Djokovic has secured the fourth seed spot for the US Open, which means that the Serb will not face the top two seeds, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz, before the semifinals. This gives Djokovic a good chance of making a deep run at Flushing Meadows before taking on the big threats to his title ambitions.

If one were to look at the field at the US Open, the chances for Djokovic to have a title run at the US Open look promising, as Alcaraz is coming back after an injury layoff, Jannik Sinner is not there, and even though he reached two Slam finals this year, Zverev’s recent form on the hard courts has not been encouraging.

However, Djokovic’s recent loss to Thiago Agustín Tirante in Cincinnati showed the Serb’s physical vulnerabilities, which are natural at this stage of his career. Even though he doesn’t have to face Alcaraz or Zverev before the semifinals, the Serb will need to reach that stage first, and as Joao Fonseca showed in Paris, other players are catching up to the former World No.1.

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The men’s field at the US Open might be depleted, but it still has enough talented players who might challenge Djokovic in the early rounds. Top-quality players like Karen Khachanov, Cameron Norrie, and even Tirante will be unseeded and might be the Serb’s opponents in the first couple of rounds. Even though he should be able to get past those matchups, each of those players can push Djokovic in long matches, which will hamper his prospects in the later rounds.

Given Djokovic’s trends this year, especially at the Slams, the Serb needs quick wins in the early rounds to have a chance of putting up a decent show at the latter stages.

Novak Djokovic Shone and Struggled at the Slams This Year

With flashes of brilliance and vulnerability on court, Djokovic has experienced both sides of the spectrum at the Slams this year. At the Australian Open, he beat Jannik Sinner in an epic five-setter, snapping the Italian’s five-match win streak against him. However, the Serb had a huge escape in the quarterfinals, when he was two sets down against Lorenzo Musetti, but the Italian’s injury retirement gave Djokovic a chance to reach the semifinals.

At the French Open, it became clear that the physically intensive clay-court tennis was no longer suitable for Djokovic at this age. He had long four-set wins against the likes of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Valentin Royer before losing out to Fonseca in the third round. The match showed both his brilliance and vulnerabilities, as Djokovic was able to go toe-to-toe with an opponent almost twenty years younger than him, but at the same time was out of any energy in the fifth set, something which was his forte in his heydays.

At Wimbledon, Djokovic yet again struggled to secure quick wins against the likes of Wu Yibing, Arthur Rinderknech, and Roman Safiullin before he had to play a five-hour marathon against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals. Those hard-fought wins took their toll on the Serb, who could not pose a threat to Sinner in the semifinals, with the Italian playing at his best.

The heat in New York is projected to be high, which will be an added challenge for Djokovic, who admitted to struggling in such conditions after his loss in Cincinnati. The seeding might have given some extra protection, but winning a Major title at the age of 39 in the era of baseline-dominated tennis remains quite a challenge for the former World No.1.