Djoko eyes high 5!

Novak Djokovic fired up by his emotional Olympic Games triumph targets new Grand Slam records at the US Open from Monday as title rival Jannik Sinner arrives in New York dogged by questions over two positive drugs testsDefending champion Djokovic can become the oldest Open era champion at the tournament if he secures a fifth title a record he would share with Jimmy Connors Pete Sampras and Roger FedererSinner steals No 1 rankingThe 37yearold would also move to 25 Grand Slam triumphs taking him clear of the 24 he currently shares with Margaret Court The final major of the year comes at a critical time for Djokovic This year he was succeeded as Australian Open champion by Sinner who also relieved him of his World No 1 rankingCarlos Alcaraz took his French Open title with the Spanish crowdpleaser then sweeping Djokovic off court in a onesided Wimbledon finalAlso ReadShuttler Krishna Nagar keen to stay calm in bid to retain gold medalHowever Djokovic returned to the clay courts of Roland Garros to stun Alcaraz in the Olympic final His tearful victory in Paris allowed him to become only the fifth player to complete a career Golden Slam of all four majors and Olympic goldThe victory also silenced the increasing number of doubters who had written off the Serb as a spent force in a new era where Sinner 23 and 21yearold Alcaraz are steadily moving centre stageParis win his 99thDjokovic who underwent surgery on his right knee in June described his Olympic victory as his ldquobiggest sporting successrdquo It was also the 99th title of his professional career ldquoAt the age of 37 and facing a 21yearold who is probably the best player in the world right now winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon backtoback I can say that this is probably the biggest sporting success I have ever hadrdquo insisted DjokovicSinner arrives at the final Slam of the season having captured the Cincinnati Masters title However that triumph was quickly overshadowed when it emerged he had been cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for a banned substance earlier in the seasonSinner tested positive for clostebol an anabolic agent prohibited at all times by the World AntiDoping Agency WADA But he escaped a lengthy ban after officials accepted his explanation that the substance had entered his system as a result of contamination from a support team memberNo woman has successfully defended her US Open title since Serena Williams in 2014Fivetime major winner and World No 1 Iga Swiatek the 2022 champion in New York made the Cincinnati semifinals where she was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka Sabalenka the Australian Open champion was runnerup to Gauff at the US Open last year losing from a set up in the finalThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever