Novak Djokovic meets Ricardas Berankis on Tuesday in the opening round of the 2013 US Open. The match is slated for 7 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream HERE and HERE.
World No. 1 Djokovic has played great this season, but has only three titles to go along with his 44-8 record. He lost to Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final and lost in the French Open semifinals to rival Rafael Nadal. Because of Nadal's incredible season, including going 16-0 on hard courts, Djokovic believes the Spaniard is the one to beat at this year's US Open.
"Nadal is definitely back and playing maybe the best tennis that he ever has played on hard courts," Djokovic told BBC. "He's definitely so far the best player this year. There is no question about it. The results are showing everything.
"... He won three Masters events. He won it in great style. He was very aggressive, and he seems like he changed a little bit the game. He stepped in a little bit more.
"He knows that now he has to be a bit more aggressive than he usually is because of, I guess, his knees and everything and because hard court is not clay. It's not his favourite surface; it's faster. I'm sure he worked on that, and you could see that all the work he put in is getting results."
Djokovic could meet Nadal in the US Open final, but the Serb must first get by Berankis.
The 23-year Lithuanian, ranked No. 112 in the World, is 13-13 on the season and without any titles. He fell in the third round of this year's Australian Open and the first round of the French Open. He recently made it to the quarterfinals at Winston-Salem before losing in two sets to Sam Querrey.
Tuesday will be Berankis and Djokovic's first head-to-head match.
*Stats via ATPWorldTour.com and MatchStat.com.
