Novak Djokovic was highly critical of his performance following his unexpected third-round exit at the U.S. Open, citing his poor serving as the primary reason for his title defense ending early. After the surprising loss to Alexei Popyrin, Djokovic openly expressed his frustration with his level of play.
“Congratulations to him and his team. He definitely played better and deserved to win today,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic, plagued by 14 double-faults that brought his tournament total to 32, was eliminated from the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 defeat to 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia. This surprising outcome followed the previous night's exit of 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz.
“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,” Djokovic noted while addressing the media.
Uncharacteristic underperformance from Novak Djokovic
The 24-time major champion lost serve five times against Popyrin. This marks only the third occasion in the Open era that two of the top three men's seeds at the U.S. Open have been eliminated before the fourth round, with the previous occurrences in 1973 and 2000.
“It was just an awful match for me,” said the World No. 2 Djokovic.
“I wasn’t playing even close to my best. 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,” he continued.
Djokovic’s third-round exit matches his worst result at Flushing Meadows, having faced the same early exit in 2005 and 2006. Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated Djokovic 18 years ago and now serves as Australia’s Davis Cup captain, was present in Popyrin’s guest box at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“If you play on a quick surface like this without the serve, without [the] ability to win free points there, very low first-serve percentage, many double faults, then you can't win,” said the Serbian.
On Friday, Djokovic played sluggishly and appeared emotionally flat, likely due to the lingering fatigue from winning his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia by defeating Alcaraz in the Paris Games final earlier in August.
“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,” he continued.
First season without a title since 2017
At 37, Djokovic posted a 16-3 record at Grand Slam tournaments this year, marking his first season without a major title since 2017. His strongest performance was at Wimbledon, where he reached the final but lost to Alcaraz.
Entering the U.S. Open as a top favorite following his wins at the French Open and Wimbledon, No. 3 seed Alcaraz admitted he underestimated his fatigue after losing to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night.
Djokovic briefly took over as the favorite to win the men’s title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, but his status was short-lived. As Week 1 wraps up, the only previous U.S. Open men’s champion still in the draw is Daniil Medvedev, who won his sole Grand Slam in 2021. Medvedev will face No. 31 Flavio Cobolli on Saturday in the third round.
Popyrin will aim for his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by facing No. 20 Frances Tiafoe. Tiafoe advanced on Friday with a five-set victory over No. 13 Ben Shelton, finishing 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American clash.
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