July 31 (Reuters) - With the U.S. Open approaching, Novak Djokovic's return to the Cincinnati Open tune-up highlights the challenge facing the 39-year-old as he seeks to preserve his body while building match sharpness to claim a record 25th Grand Slam title.
Since capturing the U.S. Open trophy in 2023, Djokovic has watched Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner seize control of men's tennis, with the young duo sharing 10 of the last 11 Grand Slam titles and frustrating the Serb's pursuit of more history.
With time running out to add to his major tally and go clear of Margaret Court in the all-time list, Djokovic will compete in the Cincinnati Open, where he won the title in 2023 and carried that momentum into a triumphant New York campaign.
"I'm happy to announce that I'm coming to the Cincinnati Open this year (for) the first time since 2023, when I played one of the best best-of-three finals in a Masters 1000 event in my career," Djokovic said on Thursday in a social media post.
"I can't wait to come back and perform in front of you. I'm very excited to see the fans. Tennis fans from around the world are going to be present at the tournament. See you soon."
The tournament runs from August 13 to 23.
Cincinnati was the site of one of Djokovic's most memorable recent triumphs, with the Serb outlasting Spaniard Alcaraz in a three-hour and 49-minute final in 2023 for his third title in the tournament, before going on to win the U.S. Open crown.
DIFFERENT PHASE
Nearly three years on, Djokovic finds himself in a different phase of his career and though he remains capable of competing for the sport's biggest prizes, sustaining that level over two weeks has become an increasingly difficult task.
The challenge has become so acute that Djokovic has rationed his schedule, arriving at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year without a warm-up event, yet still reaching the final and semi-finals respectively.
"For 99% of the players, that would be a very good result," Djokovic said after his defeat by Sinner at Wimbledon.
"For me, it's good but not good enough, because I'm blessed and cursed to be used to something of a highest degree in terms of results and achievements.
"... Of course, I still enjoy the thrill of competition. Maybe I don't enjoy the hard weeks leading up to a big tournament, putting myself over and over again through a lot of pain, physically mostly."
Cincinnati will offer Djokovic a final gauge of his form ahead of the U.S. Open, where he will again attempt to halt Alcaraz and Sinner and add to his Grand Slam haul.
The year's final slam starts on August 30.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
