Novak Djokovic had defeated his compatriot Viktor Troicki on four of their five past meetings, but Troicki hit the court with a different game plan on Tuesday to play his opening match of the US Open 2010. Troicki pushed the world no. 3 to the extremes and bewitched Djokovic with his temperament and agility before falling in the penultimate final set that cost him the match. In give grueling sets, Djokovic earned the victory over Viktor Troicki with a 6-3 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-3 scoreline.

Re-live the excitement of this duel!

This was the most unexpected start of the US Open 2010 for Djokovic, as now he has got the clear picture before him and he certainly has enough time to reflect upon his shortcomings, which made him look so vulnerable and feeble in his opening match. Though, Djokovic won in the end, it was not a convincing win - on any parameter. Troicki did play well, but much had been contributed by Djokovic's erratic play.

Djokovic did struggle a lot in the heat and looked almost beaten when he was trailing 3-1 in the fourth set but the third seed made a great come back to avoid his first opening-round loss in a grand slam since the 2006 Australian Open.

The former Australian Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up broke the big-serving Troicki, ranked 47th, in the sixth game of the fourth set and again in the 12th to force a fifth set which he won with relative ease.

In the second round, Djokovic will meet Philipp Petzschner of Germany, who beat Dusan Lojda of the Czech Republic to advance.