By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday August 30, 2024

 

Novak Djokovic joined Carlos Alcaraz as the latest upset victim at the US Open, falling to Alexei Popyrin in four sets.

Photo Source: TTV

New York—Chaos reigns supreme on the men’s side at the US Open.

24 hours after No.3 seed Carlos Alcaraz saw his 15-match winning streak go up in smoke in straight sets to Botic Van de Zandschulp, four-time US Open champion Novak Djokovic was stunned out of the tournament by Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.



It was the third meeting at the majors between the pair in 2024. Djokovic had won the previous two, at the Australian Open and at Melbourne, in four sets.

“Third time lucky, I guess,” Popyrin said. “We had some battles at Australian Open and at Wimbledon, I had my chances in those matches but didn’t take them. This match was a little bit different, I was able to take my chances when I had them.”

Not since 1973 have the No.2 and No.3 seeds in the men’s singles draw failed to reach the round of 16, and with Djokovic’s loss, the tournament has now gone 16 years without a successful men’s singles title defense.

Popyrin’s four-set win over Djokovic followed a similar script as Van de Zandschulp’s takedown of Alcaraz on Thursday night. The 24-time major champion was flat from the start, and never really found his high gear. Meanwhile, Popyrin was inspired, cracking his forehand with breathtaking authority and capitalizing on the opportunities he was given by the 37-year-old legend.

Popyrin was clutch when he needed to be in the first set, saving five break points in the fifth game, then winning the final ten points of the set to take it, 6-4. He claimed the only break of the second set, in the fifth game, and held serve the rest of the way to take a two sets to love lead.

Djokovic did his best to turn the tides by playing an excellent third set, but he was patchy in the fourth, plagued by double-faults (14 on the evening and six in the fourth set), and fell behind by a double break at 5-2.

"He definitely played better and deserved to win today," Djokovic said. "I mean, on my end, honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success.

"I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly, serving by far the worst ever. So, yeah, if you play on a quick surface like this without, you know, the serve, without ability to win free points there, very low first-serve percentage, many double faults, then you can't win."

He reclaimed one of the breaks but the Aussie served out the match on his second try.



Popyrin clocked 22 forehand winners to eight for Djokovic, and hit 50 winners overall, to 40 for Djokovic. The victory marked Popyrin’s second career Top-5 win, and Djokovic first US Open loss before the round of 16 since 2006, when he was defeated by Lleyton Hewitt.

“It’s unbelievable because I’ve been in the third round about 15 times in my career but haven’t been able to get to the fourth round. To be able to do it against the greatest of all time is unbelievable.”