Novak Djokovic has overcame Marton Fucsovics in the US Open first round in punishing temperatures that prompted officials to observe a heat rule for men’s singles matches for the first time.
Djokovic looked in real trouble in the steamy conditions and admitted to feeling sick during the almost three hour encounter but recovered to win 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-0 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The players took a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets to help them cope with temperatures climbing above 90 degrees fahrenheit (32C).
The pair, who were not allowed to speak to their coaches during the break, spent the downtime side-by-side, “naked in the ice baths,” Djokovic said in a post-match broadcast interview.
“It was quite a magnificent feeling, I must say.”
After claiming the first set, a visibly exhausted Djokovic smashed his racket as Fucsovics led 3-2 in the second.
In between the action, both players draped themselves in ice towels and at one point Djokovic sat shirtless in his seat.
“Obviously I felt better, especially after that 10-minute break” the Serb sixth seed said.
“For the first three sets, it was a survival mode for both of us.”
Cilic clinched a second-round berth after opponent Marius Copil of Romania retired with a left-arm strain in the third set trailing the seventh-ranked Croatian 7-5 6-1 1-1.
Cilic, who said it was “one of the most brutal days that we had so far this year,” told reporters the heat, plus the pressure of the shot clock introduced at the tournament this year, had proved challenging.
“I was just missing some easy balls, making some unforced errors that are not that usual for me,” he said, referring to his performance early in the match.
“Conditions definitely were extremely tough and very humid, very hot.”
German fourth seed Alexander Zverev hit 37 winners on his way to dispatching Peter Polansky 6-2 6-1 6-2 in an hour and 35 minutes.
The 21-year-old won 83 per cent of his first serves, fired 10 aces and never faced a break point to set up a second-round showdown with Nicolas Mahut of France.
“I played well from start to finish,” Zverev said in an on-court interview.
“It’s never easy and obviously the conditions are tough for everyone because of the heat and humidity.”
Other first-round winners on Tuesday were Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, Argentine 13th seed Diego Schwartzman, 14th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini, Japanese 21st seed Kei Nishikori, 23rd-seeded South Korean Hyeon Chung and French 26th seed Richard Gasquet.