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World No. 28 Alexei Popyrin knocked defending champion Novak Djokovic out of the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday, ending the reigning champion’s dream of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title.
Just one day after third seed Carlos Alcaraz suffered a crushing defeat to No. 74 Bottic van der Zandschup, the 25-year-old Poplin defeated another superstar 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Poplin handed Djokovic his first U.S. Open defeat in 18 years and his first loss at a Grand Slam since a second-round loss at the 2017 Australian Open – the last time the Serbian star failed to win a major title.
Despite winning the coveted Olympic gold medal in Paris, an inconsistent season that included a knee operation left Djokovic without a single Grand Slam title.
He has beaten Poplin in three previous meetings, including this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon.
But a career-high 14 double faults — and 49 unforced errors overall — proved too much for Djokovic to overcome.
“For me, it was a terrible match,” Djokovic said. “I mean, I tried a lot of ways, but sometimes that’s the problem … you lose the fundamentals. You lose the basics. You lose the movements, the timing, the rhythm, the beat, everything is gone, whether it’s the serve or the other shots.”
Poplin, who had just won the most important title of his career at the Montreal Masters, saved five break points in the sixth game of the match and won the first two sets without fear.
Djokovic bought himself some breathing space by breaking serve early in the third game. Poplin fought back but Djokovic broke twice more, with the Serbian taking full advantage of Poplin’s increasing errors.
But the Australian responded in a tense fourth set, saving a break point in the second game before breaking again to lead 3-2.
Poplin remained patient as Djokovic saved three break points, and when the Serb double-faulted to give him another break point, Poplin seized the opportunity and hit a powerful forehand winner that elicited a huge roar.
Djokovic served four double faults and fell behind 5-2. He won the next two games, but Poplin won the match by a set.
“I’ve been waiting for him to step up,” Poplin said.
“I don’t want to be that moment where Novak fights back from two sets down. It’s extra motivation for me to not do that again and win the fourth set.”
Poplin will next face Francis Tiafoe, who defeated fellow American Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 in a tight afternoon match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Tiafoe avenged his loss to Shelton in last year’s quarterfinals in New York by withstanding 23 aces and converting 21 break points with brilliant return performances, converting five of them.
That included a break in each of the final two sets.
World No. 6 Andrey Rublev of Russia defeated Czech player Jiri Lechka 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, while eighth seed Kasper Ruud of Norway fought back from two sets down to defeat 19-year-old Chinese teenager Shang Juncheng 6-7 (1/7), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.
– Gauff Rally –
Defending women’s champion Coco Gauff overcame a late setback to defeat Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Gauff’s strong serve in the third set gave her three match points at 5-2, but she served two double faults, and Svitolina saved another with a vicious backhand return before breaking.
But Gauff broke Svitolina’s serve at zero in the next game to seal the victory.
Gauff will next face fellow American Emma Navarro, who upset Gauff in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Navarro defeated Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
All the drama on Ashe Stadium meant second-seeded Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka was not able to start her match until after midnight at the massive stadium, which seats nearly 24,000 spectators.
Despite a slow start, she defeated Russian player Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 at 1:48 a.m.
China’s Olympic gold medalist and seventh seed Zheng Qinwen lost her first two matches by a set before defeating Germany’s Jules Niemeyer 6-2, 6-1.
Zheng Jie will next face Croatian player Donna Vekic in a rematch of her Paris Olympic gold medal match.
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