Defending champion Novak Djokovic reels at US Open, night after Carlos Alcaraz defeat
NEW YORK — Defending champion Novak Djokovic was shocked by the US Open one night after Carlos Alcaraz lost in the third round 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to 28th seed Alexei Popyrin of Australia on Friday night.
Seeded No. 2, Djokovic was attempting to become the first player in tennis history to win 25 Grand Slam singles titles. Instead, after knee surgery in June, he ends a year without winning at least one major title for the first time since 2017. Before that, that had not happened since 2010.
Also of note: 2024 now becomes the first season since 2002 in which none of the big three in men’s tennis — Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — have won a Grand Slam trophy.
The third-round exit was Djokovic’s worst performance at Flushing Meadows; the only other times he has been beaten so early at the US Open came in 2005 and 2006. The man who beat Djokovic 18 years ago, International Tennis Hall of Famer Lleyton Hewitt, is now Australia’s Davis Cup captain and was sitting in Popyrin’s guest box at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic, 37, has reached the Ashes final 10 times, winning the title in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
On Friday, however, he committed 14 double faults and looked physically slow and emotionally flat, perhaps because of residual fatigue after recovering his first olympic gold medal for Serbia by beating Alcaraz in the final at the Paris Games earlier in August.
Alcaraz, seeded No. 3, entered the U.S. Open as the tournament favorite after winning the French Open and Wimbledon, and acknowledged his energy was lower than he thought after being eliminated in New York by Botic van de Zandschulp, ranked 74th, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night.
Djokovic then replaced Alcaraz as the moneyline choice to win the men’s title, according to BetMGM Sports Bettingbut this status did not last long.
For Popyrin, 25, it represented a real breakthrough: he was 0-3 against Djokovic and 0-6 in third-round matches at major tournaments.
But Popyrin, who serves brilliantly, is playing as well as ever, having won the biggest title of his career less than three weeks ago at a hard-court tournament in Montreal, where he won five times against opponents ranked in the top 20.
Everything was against Djokovic, who was not up to his usual standards.
Popyrin was terrific at the net, going 10 of 10 on serve-and-volleys and 25 of 36 on points when he stepped up. Djokovic, on the other hand, won the point on just 19 of his 40 net passes, partly because Popyrin kept feeding him passing shots.
Popyrin took big cuts with his powerful forehand, racking up 22 of his 50 total winners with that shot.
He broke Djokovic five times, including to lead 3-2 in the fourth set. It seemed a titanic game, lasting more than 10 minutes and including four break chances for Popyrin, who converted the last with a forehand inside to cap a 22-shot rally, then turned on his heels, clenched both fists and roared. He also took Djokovic’s next service game to make it 5-2.
The first time Popyrin served for the match, he hesitated, allowing Djokovic to break. The second time, Popyrin sealed the deal, holding at 0 when Djokovic sent a forehand long.
Popyrin will now attempt to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final by winning No. 20 Frances Tiafoewho qualified Friday with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 13 Ben Shelton in a clash between two Americans.
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