FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY - Grand Slam finals are grueling two-week challenges for the top contenders. Potential champions are asked to win seven rounds in the majors. And that is assuming the players don’t need to qualify just for the right to face a top player in the opening rounds.

Novak Djokovic entered the U.S. Open needing those seven wins to capture his second career Grand Slam title. But the reigning Australian Open champion was nearly knocked off by someone who needed to win three matches last week just to get invited back to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

American Robert Kendrick put a scare into the third-seeded Djokovic on Friday. The 113th-ranked player aggressively attacked the net and amped up his serve before Djokovic survived the scare, posting a 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 6-4 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I knew before the match [that] he was going to go for his shots because we played one time before,” said Djokovic, referring to his 2007 victory over Kendrick on a grass court. “He served really precise and really, really strong.”

Kendrick aced Djokovic 19 times, including nine in the dramatic first set. Djokovic, who lost the U.S. Open championship match to Roger Federer last year, is looking to continue his breakout year. Kendrick nearly dashed that quest in the second round before Djokovic survived and advanced to the third round where we will face Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

“It was very difficult for me to get any rhythm on my returns,” Djokovic said.

The loss ended Kendrick’s feel good story. The fourth-seeded qualifier’s previously had advanced to the second round of a Grand Slam event just once in his career, exiting in the second round at Wimbledon in 2006. ‘

Victories over three players allowed Kendrick the opportunity to try and push his luck on the biggest stage. His first-round win; four-set win over France’s Nicolas Mahut set up a match on center court for the Fresno, Cali. native.

“I won four matches. I can’t be too disappointed,” Kendrick said. “Coming into the qualifiers, my knee was so banged up, I didn’t think I was going to play. I got better each match. I’m happy, but I missed an opportunity.”

Kendrick said this experience was more satisfying than his previous experience despite his knew problems.

“The crowd was just going crazy, and I was enjoying it more this time,” he said. “It was just being in the States, it was exciting.

“I just have bad tendinitis in my left knee and there’s pretty much nothing I can do about it but get massages and stuff like that. [My] body’s not getting younger.”

The former University of Washington and Pepperdine All-American gambled with high-risk shots to keep it competitive. Kendrick’s aggressiveness nearly resulted in the tournament’s biggest upset on the men’s singles side. The 28-year-old battled back after falling behind 6-2 in the first-set tiebreaker, though his 30 unforced errors, compared to Djokovic’s 13, helped the Serb secure a straight-sets victory.

Djokovic also connected on 71 percent of his first serves and broke Kendrick twice while Kendrick failed in four chances to break a serve.

“I had to keep the high percentage of first serves in order to really stay with him,” Djokovic said. “He hit some good returns and he was being aggressive and that was the right tactic.”