Novak Djokovic is hoping his Olympics success will spur him to US Open glory despite not playing since the Paris Games. (More Tennis News)
Djokovic became just the second player in the Open Era to win all four grand slams, the gold medal at the Olympics and the ATP Tour Finals after Andre Agassi.
The Serb triumphed at Flushing Meadows last year, winning his 24th major title, but one year on, is still waiting for the win that would take him clear of Margaret Court as the outright record holder.
He came close at Wimbledon but lost the final in straight sets to Carlos Alcaraz, who he then beat to claim his elusive gold medal earlier this month.
Djokovic, the number two seed for the tournament, will begin against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot on Monday, and he believes his recent success will serve as the perfect springboard for a similar outcome in New York.
"I hope to never recover from that [Olympic triumph] because it's the best set of feelings that I ever had as an athlete," he told Eurosport.
"On the court but also off, when we went back to celebrate with our people, all of the Serbian Olympians that managed to win a medal.
"It was a very unique moment for me. I'll never forget it, and I'll try to use it as a great confidence boost for what's coming up in New York in the next few weeks."
At 87.1%, Djokovic holds the second-best win percentage at the US Open in the Open Era of players to have featured in at least 30 matches at the event, after Sampras (88.8%).
And the 37-year-old will be hoping that is a good omen as he aims to win a joint-record fifth title at the tournament.
Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have split the major trophies between them so far in 2024, while the last time Djokovic failed to win a single grand slam in a calendar year was in 2017.
Djokovic has not competed in the hard-court swing so far, instead choosing to recover, having struggled with a knee injury since the French Open in May, but he is sure that break will help his performance.
"I haven't had much time to recover or much time to train," he added. "I tried to get the most out of the few weeks that I had.
"I had more than all the other guys that played the tournaments, but that was a conscious decision that I made not to have any lead-up tournaments to the US Open because I just felt that the calendar is too congested this year with the Olympics.
"I needed my break, short but sweet, celebration, family quality time and then, of course, [I] started my training and trying to build my body, build my form for the start of the tournament."
