Djokovic was eliminated in the third round

(dpa) Following Carlos Alcaraz, defending champion Novak Djokovic also suffered an early defeat at the US Open. The 37-year-old Serbian lost to Australian player Alexei Popyrin 4:6, 4:6, 6:2, 4:6 in the third round, his first elimination in the New York Grand Slam since New York in 2006. 18 years ago, Djokovic participated in the US Open for the second time, but failed to make it to the third round. Since then, he has won the tennis championship four times.

“It was a bad match for me,” a frustrated Djokovic said after the match. “I played the worst tennis ever and served worse than ever.” It meant the 24-time Grand Slam champion failed to win at one of the four Grand Slams this season for the first time since 2017 and missed out on his 25th title at a major tournament after winning gold at the Paris Olympics. “I put a lot of energy into winning the gold medal, but arriving in New York I felt not fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic said.

Earlier, world number three Alcaraz of Spain was defeated completely unexpectedly by Dutch player Botik van der Zandschulp in the second round.

The 28th seed Popyrin once again showed his strong form on hard courts and displayed some exciting tennis at times. He celebrated brilliant point-scoring wins with gusto and thrilled the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd on several occasions. In preparation, Popyrin won the Montreal Masters 1000 event and now is in the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

In last year’s third round against compatriot Laszlo Djokovic lost the first two sets 4:6. At that time, the most successful tennis professional in history fought back and won the match.

But at 2:2 in the fourth set, Popyrin scored the decisive break in this hard-fought battle with a fierce forehand. The 25-year-old was shaky again at 5-2 ahead, but deservedly celebrated the biggest success of his career so far.