Novak Djokovic surprisingly eliminated from US Open in third round of men’s singles. The Serbian, fresh Olympic champion, world number 2 and defending champion in New York, is defeated by the Australian Alexei Popyrin, seeded number 28, who wins 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in 3h19′. In 24 hours, to the delight of Jannik Sinnertwo favorites for the final victory exit the scene: first Carlos Alcaraz, now Djokovic.
In the round of 16, Popyrin will face the American Frances Tiafoe who wins the American derby with Ben Shelton in 5 sets. The number 20 seed beats the number 13 of the draw 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3.
Djokovic, winner of 4 editions at Flushing Meadows, goes down and fails to attack the 25th Slam of his career. Never in New York had he been eliminated so early: for him, 2024 ends without major titles.
Popyrin, with his first victory in four direct matches against the 37-year-old from Belgrade, produced the biggest surprise of the tournament and eliminated the main candidate for the final from the bottom of the draw: on the other side of the main draw Sinner smiles, seeing his most fearsome rival disappear and the Russian Daniil Medvedev, number 5 in the draw and probable opponent in the possible quarter-finals, is looking towards the horizon.
Djokovic: “I played the worst tennis of my career”
“I played at times the worst tennis of my career”. Djokovic doesn’t make excuses after the match. “Popyrin played better and deserved to win, congratulations to him and his team. Honestly, the way I felt from the beginning of the tournament and the way I played, it’s almost a success to have reached the third round,” says the 37-year-old from Belgrade. “I played at times the worst tennis of my career and I’ve certainly never served so badly. On fast courts like these, you can’t win without serving and you can’t beat a player in form like Alexei. For me – he says – it was simply a horrible match.”
Twenty days ago, Djokovic won the Olympic gold on the red clay of Paris: “I spent a lot of energy to win the Olympics, in New York I didn’t arrive fresh mentally and physically. This is the US Open and you have to try, but I didn’t have the energy to do it.: it was evident from the beginning of the tournament. Life goes on, I will try to straighten out the situation.”
Who wins the tournament now? “Alcaraz is out, I’m out. Popyrin beat the defending champion. If he serves well and plays like that, he can beat anyone. There were big surprises and the draw opened up. Obviously Sinner is the big favourite but there are many players who are going very strong: Tiafoe, Fritz, Rublev, Dimitrov. Everyone has a chance”.
It matches
Popyrin plays the first set with aggression and tries to keep control of the gameHe makes a lot of mistakes (10 unforced errors) but keeps the initiative (10/13 points won at the net) and is very good at taking advantage of Djokovic’s empty passage: the Serbian, who does not take advantage of any of the 5 break points available, gets stuck in the ninth game, gives up his serve to love and sees the first set evaporate.
Popyrin maintains a high level of play and becomes even more solid on serve in the second set: Djokovic does not create a single break point and has no chance of recovery when he loses his serve, slipping down 2-4. The 28th seed closes the partial 6-4 and extends.
Djokovic, like a diesel, finally seems to be getting going. The third set offers a different script, with the Serb capable of breaking through and running away to 3-0 with the first break of his day. The 37-year-old’s serve, however, is attackable and Popyrin mends the gap (2-3) before going haywire. Leading 40-15 in the sixth game, the Australian stumbles into 4 errors in a row – including a fatal double fault – which effectively close the set: Djokovic extends (4-2) and closes with another break for 6-2.
The Australian stays afloat in the complicated start of the fourth set, immediately cancelling 2 break points, and returns to the levels of the beginning of the match. In the fifth game, Popyrin scores with a precious break (3-2) and in the next game he comes back from 15-40, cancelling the two chances created by Djokovic for an immediate response. Nole feels the blow, crumbles and suffers another break (2-5) that resembles a sentence. The former world number 1 has a jolt, breaks his rival’s serve and reduces the gap. Popyrin has a second chance and takes advantage of it: he closes 6-4, the king is defeated.