San Diego’s Svadja draws in US Open crowd by challenging Djokovic, but master prevails

There were a few moments on the tennis court on Wednesday Zach Svadja will never forget, no matter how many matches he wins or tournaments he plays.

For an hour in the largest stadium in the sport, the 22-year-old San Diegan stood right up to the greatest player in the sport’s history, Novak Djokovic.

Svadja snagged the first set in a tiebreak and the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared.

Thousands of people who didn’t know Svadja and certainly couldn’t have spelled his name earlier that morning were suddenly starting to believe that maybe, possibly, he could be the one to take down Djokovic.

There was another moment, a half hour later, when Svadja, blasting backhands and pinpoint serves, broke the 24-time Grand Slam champion and went up 3-1 in the third set.

But that seemed to flip a switch in the Serbian’s brain, and what had been a C-level performance from Djokovic went up several notches.

He ripped off the next eight games and rolled past Svadja, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, and into the third round.

“That was pretty special out there, I must say,” Svadja said an hour after the match. “I’ve always wanted to play Novak at some point, and time’s ticking, so this opportunity felt really special.”

Svadja, currently ranked a career-high No. 126, said before the match he would be “smiling a lot” against Djokovic, and the first set went about as well as could be hoped.

With Djokovic spraying backhand errors (nine in all in the first set) and unable to get his first serve in consistently, Svadja stayed steady and held serve six times to get into a tiebreaker.

Despite the vast difference in experience between the two, it was Svadja who played the big points better, and at set point, he ended a 17-shot rally by crushing a backhand down the line to win the set.

“I was definitely nervous, but I was soaking it all in despite all the stress and everything,” Svadja said. “I was playing well and his level wasn’t where it usually is.

“It kind of shocked me (winning the set).”

In the second set, Djokovic started making fewer mistakes, and Svadja suddenly started cramping. It wasn’t the heat (temperature was in the high 70s) but the stress of playing Djokovic that caused it, Svadja said.

“My body got to me,” Svadja said. “The third set, my cramping was really bad. Legs, and arms, and I was telling the trainer, I do not want to default out here. I was really stressed, but still trying to enjoy the moment.”

Svajda’s short-lived lead in the third set gave him a temporary respite, but Djokovic quickly responded with that run of games that put to rest any hopes of an upset.

“He just doesn’t miss much when he plays,” Svadja said with a grin. “It was hard when I wasn’t able to move like I normally do.”

Svadja said he spoke to his father, Tom, before the match; Tom Svadja has been battling Stage 4 cancer for more than a year. Svadja’s brothers Trevor and Todd flew in for the match, along with some friends back home.

“My Dad just told me to have fun out there, like he always does,” Svadja said. “We’ve been dreaming of this moment for so long, he told me to just enjoy it.”

When it was over, Djokovic had some kind words for Svadja at net.

“He just told me that it’s always tough to play with an injury like I had today, and to keep going,” Svadja said. “And I told him it was an honor to be out here and share this moment with him.”

Djokovic, after the match, had more kind words for Svadja. “Credit to Zach for playing some real high-quality tennis,” he said. “I wish him all the best, he’s playing really well.”

David Nainkin, one of Svadja’s coaches (along with Ray Sarmiento) said he was proud of his player’s effort.

“He showed he can play with the world’s best, and the first set was very competitive,” Nainkin said. “A lot of players have been through that learning curve. It’s learning from it, and learning how to advance to the next level. But today was very encouraging to see.”

Svadja walks away from this year’s Open with a hefty paycheck ($154,000) and a new goal to crack into the Top 100 before the Australian Open in January.

While Svadja’s loss Wednesday was expected, that of another Southern Californian was not.

Brandon Nakashima, the No. 30 seed, survived a five-setter in the first round and figured to have an easier time in the second with Swiss qualifier Jerome Kym.

But again Nakashima had to battle back from being down two sets to one, and this time he couldn’t complete the comeback, falling to Kym in a fifth-set super-tiebreaker, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5. 3-6, 7-6 (8).

“He was just a little more aggressive than me and a little bit better than me,” Nakashima said. “I wasn’t feeling like I was playing my best tennis, and he has a huge forehand and a huge serve and that made it tough.”

The four-hour, twenty-minute match was tight in each set, and when Nakashima fell down an early break in the fifth, 2-love, it looked bad. But the San Diegan rallied to win the next three games. Yet Kym, ranked 175, was the steadier player at the end.

The loss ends Nakashima’s bid to reach the Round of 16 here for the second straight year. It was the third straight five-set match he has played at a Slam, as Nakashima fell at Wimbledon to Lorenzo Sonego.

“It’s obviously frustrating; it just comes down to a few points at the end,” Nakashima said.

He added praise for his longtime friend Svadja.

“He’s picking up his level and it’s great to see him at these big tournaments,” Nakashima said. “I’ve known him for a very long time, and he’s really playing so well.”