Novak Djokovic battled past American qualifier Zachary Svajda in four sets on Wednesday to reach the US Open third round for a record-equalling 19th time.

The 38-year-old Djokovic dropped the first set but recovered to win 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 and stay in the hunt for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title.

"I wasn't really happy about my tennis for the first part of the match but also credit to Zach for playing some high quality tennis," said Djokovic.

The Serbian star admitted to feeling "not that great" after a laboured performance but is optimistic he will gradually find his rhythm.

"That's what I'm hoping, the deeper I go into the tournament the better I feel about my game," he said.

"Obviously a bit different for me the last couple of years body-wise. I get the wear

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