210907 Djokovic
Novak Djokovic reacts after winning the fourth round match against Jenson Brooksby on day eight of the 2021 US Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre. Image Credit: AFP

New York: Novak Djokovic struggled but advanced within three matches of completing the first men’s singles calendar-year Grand Slam in 52 years on Monday by outlasting American Jenson Brooksby at the US Open.

World number one Djokovic rallied past 99th-ranked Brooksby 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to book a quarter-final encounter with Italian sixth seed Matteo Berrettini in a rematch of July’s Wimbledon final.

The 34-year-old Serbian star would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to sweep all four major titles in the same year by capturing his fourth career US Open crown.