The surprises continue at the US Open and another giant said goodbye to the tournament on Friday. The second seed and world number two, Serbian Novak Djokovic, was eliminated in the third round of the event.
According to the criteria of
Djokovic, the player with the most Grand Slam titles in history (24), and four-time champion of the tournament, lost against Australian Alexei Popyrin, number 23 in the ATP ranking, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6 and 6-4, in 3 hours and 19 minutes of play.
The Serbian was left wanting to defend the title he won in 2023 against an opponent who knew how to put him on the ropes and who took advantage of his mistakes to achieve a historic victory.
Popyrin, 25, surpassed her best performance in Grand Slam tournaments. She had reached the third round three times at the Australian Open (2019, 2020 and 2023) and twice at the US Open (2019 and 2021).
The Australian had already surprised everyone by winning the most important tournament of his career, the Montreal Masters 1000, on August 11, and now he has left Djokovic behind.
He did not have it easy, as Djokovic, after losing the first two sets, made a good recovery in the match and won the third set with some comfort, 5-2. But the Serbian made too many mistakes, especially with his serve: he had 13 double faults, the worst mark of his career.
In the fourth, Popyrin had Djokovic up 5-2, but the best tennis player in history held on as long as he could, but in the end, the Serbian left the throne vacant.
“I think the third time was the charm. I had my chances in the previous matches and I didn’t take advantage of them. This time I did. I’ve been in the third round many times in my career and I haven’t been able to get through,” Popyrin said.
Popyrin and Djokovic have met three times before, with the Serbian always winning. They have met twice this year at Grand Slam tournaments, in Australia and at Wimbledon.
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