NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic didn’t go straightforward on himself when assessing the listless means he carried out from the beginning of the U.S. Open, pointing to his sloppy serving as the principle cause the protection of his 2023 title surprisingly ended within the third spherical.
“I’ve performed among the worst tennis I’ve ever performed, truthfully,” Djokovic mentioned, simply after midnight as Friday turned to Saturday. “Serving — by far — the worst ever.”
With 14 double-faults, elevating his event whole to 32, Djokovic bowed out with a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Twenty eighth-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia, one other stunning end result at Flushing Meadows one night time after Carlos Alcaraz exited.
“It was simply an terrible match for me,” the No. 2-seeded Djokovic mentioned. “I wasn’t taking part in even near my finest. It’s not good to be in that sort of state the place you are feeling OK bodily, and naturally you’re motivated as a result of it’s a Grand Slam, however you simply will not be capable of finding your sport. That’s it. The sport is falling aside, and I suppose you need to settle for that tournaments like this occur.”
Not typically for him, although.
In spite of everything, Djokovic was making an attempt to turn into the primary participant in tennis historical past with 25 Grand Slam singles titles. As an alternative, after knee surgical procedure in June, he finishes a 12 months with out claiming no less than one main championship for the primary time since 2017. Earlier than that, it hadn’t occurred since 2010.
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Additionally of observe: 2024 now turns into the primary season since 2002 wherein not one of the Huge Three of males’s tennis — Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — earned a Slam trophy.
The third-round exit equals Djokovic’s worst exhibiting at Flushing Meadows; the one different events he was crushed that early on the U.S. Open got here in 2005 and 2006. The person who defeated Djokovic 18 years in the past, Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame member Lleyton Hewitt, is now Australia’s Davis Cup captain and was sitting in Popyrin’s visitor field in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic, who’s 37, has reached the ultimate in Ashe 10 instances, leaving with the title in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
On Friday, although, he was sluggish and emotionally flat, maybe residual fatigue after accumulating his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia by beating Alcaraz within the closing on the Paris Video games earlier in August.
“Clearly, it had an impact,” Djokovic mentioned. “I spent a variety of power profitable the gold, and I did arrive to New York simply not feeling contemporary mentally and bodily. However as a result of it’s the U.S. Open, I gave it a shot and I attempted my finest. I imply, I didn’t have any bodily points. I simply felt out of fuel. And you may see that with the way in which I performed.”
The No. 3-seeded Alcaraz entered the U.S. Open because the event favourite having received the French Open and Wimbledon, and acknowledged his power was decrease than he realized after getting eradicated by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night time.
Djokovic then changed Alcaraz because the money-line choose to take the boys’s title, in line with BetMGM Sportsbook, however that standing didn’t final lengthy in any respect.
For the 25-year-old Popyrin, this represents an actual breakthrough: He had been 0-3 in opposition to Djokovic and 0-6 in third-round matches at majors.
However the strong-serving Popyrin is taking part in in addition to ever, coming off the largest title of his profession lower than three weeks in the past at a hard-court event in Montreal, the place he picked up 5 wins in opposition to opponents ranked within the high 20.
All the things was working in opposition to Djokovic.
Popyrin was terrific on the web, going 10 for 10 on serve-and-volley approaches and 25 for 36 general on factors when he pushed ahead. Djokovic, in distinction, solely received the purpose on 19 of his 40 journeys to the online, partially as a result of Popyrin saved flipping passing photographs by him.
Popyrin took huge cuts together with his highly effective forehand, accumulating 22 of his 50 whole winners with that shot.
And he broke Djokovic 5 instances, together with for a lead of 3-2 within the fourth. That sport felt titanic, lasting greater than 10 minutes and together with 4 break probabilities for Popyrin, who transformed the final with an inside-out forehand to shut a 22-stroke change, then rocked again on his heels, clenched each fists and let loose a roar. He took Djokovic’s subsequent service sport, too, to make it 5-2.
The primary time Popyrin served for the match, he faltered, permitting Djokovic to interrupt. The second time, Popyrin completed the deal, holding at love when Djokovic despatched a forehand lengthy.
Now Popyrin will attempt to attain his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by getting previous No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, who superior Friday with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 13 Ben Shelton in a matchup between two Individuals.
“If he serves properly, performs properly, he can beat anyone,” Djokovic mentioned about Popyrin. “Look, Alcaraz is out. I’m out. Some huge upsets. The draw is opening up.”
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