The 2018 Novak Djokovic tennis season started with the Tie Break Tens event in Melbourne, Australia.

In a match of constant breaks of serve, Djokovic eventually lost in straight sets due to relentless backcourt defense from Chung and copious unforced errors on critical points.

Djokovic's next event was at the Miami Open, where his spring slump continued as he lost to Benoît Paire in straight sets.

Hoping to regain form at the clay court events, Djokovic played at the Monte Carlo Masters.

He progressed to his first quarterfinals appearance since 2017 Wimbledon, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Albert Ramos in straight sets.

At the French Open, Djokovic beat Roberto Bautista Agut and Fernando Verdasco en route to the quarterfinals, where he suffered a shocking defeat to Marco Cecchinato in four sets.

[6] Showing further improvement in form, Djokovic beat Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren, British number one Kyle Edmund, and Kei Nishikori to set up a semifinal against Rafael Nadal.

He also became the lowest ranked male player to win a Wimbledon title since Goran Ivanišević won it in 2001 as a wildcard.

[8] Djokovic started his US Open series campaign with straightforward wins against Mirza Bašić and Peter Polansky in Toronto, but fell in the third round to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

He had to come back from a one-set deficit against Adrian Mannarino and ATP number 5 Grigor Dimitrov, and needed three sets to beat Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals and Marin Čilić in the semifinals.

[9] Struggling with the heat and humidity,[10] Djokovic survived an upset scare and beat Márton Fucsovics in four sets in the first round.

[12] Djokovic defeated João Sousa, Damir Džumhur, Marin Čilić, and his rival Roger Federer en route to the final, where he lost in straight sets to Karen Khachanov.

[citation needed] Djokovic easily qualified for the semifinals, winning all 3 of his round robin matches in straight sets and without losing serve.

In the final he faced Sascha Zverev, who Djokovic beat four days earlier in round robin play.