Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of his would-be historic 25th major title came to a stunning end on Friday night at the hands of Australian Alexei Popyrin, who made his Arthur Ashe Stadium debut by preventing the No. 2-seeded Serbian from winning the tournament for a fifth time.
It was the first time in three tries on a hard court that Popyrin was able to defeat Djokovic.
Alexei Popyrin impressed in the U.S. Open third round. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
“Third time’s lucky I guess,” Popyrin said with a smile during his post-match interview on the court.
Chalk it up to timing or circumstance, but Popyrin competed like a player who was about to snare the biggest win of his career.
Novak Djokovic reacts during his third-round match at the U.S. Open. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
The 25-year-old generated a plethora of blistering forehand winners, grinded out long rallies and maximized Djokovic’s mistakes.
Finishing with 130 points compared to Djokovic’s 127, Popyrin reached the fourth round of the Open for the first time in his career.
Crowned the Montreal Masters champion just three weeks ago, Popyrin had pushed the 2024 Olympic gold medalist to four sets in their meetings at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.
Alexei Popyrin and Novak Djokovic embrace after their U.S. Open match. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
“He definitely played better and deserved to win today,” Djokovic said. “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 mean, 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. You can’t win, especially against the guys who are in form like Alexei who is serving big, puts a lot of pressure on your service game. Yeah, it was just an awful match for me.”
The court started tilting in the No. 28th seed’s favor in the sixth game of the first set, when Popyrin survived five break points to even the first frame at three games apiece.
In the fifth game of the fourth set, which went on for 12 minutes, Popyrin converted a cross-court winner on his fourth break point to take a vital 3-2 lead.
He took the next two games, including a 14-point seventh game, before making quick work of the 10th and final game.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts against Alexei Popyrin. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
Djokovic may not have dropped a set up until Friday night, but he was honest with himself.
After his last opponent, Laslo Djere, was forced to retire due to injury early in the third set in the second round, Djokovic admitted he might not have won and advanced if not for the walkover.
It marked the 16th time Djokovic had advanced at a major tournament via retirement or walkover, the most by any man since the Open era began in 1968.
Novak Djokovic will not get to defend his title in Queens. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
“It was just really a big struggle mentally for me to play these three matches here, because I wasn’t playing even close to my best,” Djokovic said. “It’s not good to be in that kind of state where you feel OK physically, and of course you’re motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just are not able to find your game. That’s it. The game is falling apart, and I guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.
“You could argue that it’s because of the Olympics, but I don’t know. I don’t want to analyze that right now. You know, I was just looking to really improve my game here on a daily basis, but it just didn’t happen.”
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