Round 3: Novak Djokovic vs. Alexei Popyrin
Arthur Ashe Stadium – Night Session – First Match, 7 p.m.
- Defending champion Novak Djokovic faces recently-crowned Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin in Friday's Arthur Ashe Stadium night session, with both men seeking a spot in the US Open fourth round.
- The meeting between Djokovic, seeded No. 2, and Popyrin, seeded No. 28, is the third at Grand Slam tournament this year. Djokovic won both matches previously, in four sets, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. The 24-time major winner, seeking historic glory in New York this year after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, is not underestimating the Aussie, who has made fast gains even in the eight weeks since the pair last played. Djokovic has not lost before the Round of 16 at the US Open since 2005 (15-0) when he was defeated by Popyrin's fellow Aussie (and the current Davis Cup captain) Lleyton Hewitt.
- "We always knew he has a big serve and forehand, but I think his backhand and his movement improved a lot," Djokovic said after his Round 2 win over countryman Laslo Djere. "So he's much better defending, and he's more consistent. He doesn't make as many errors as he used to. Just overall great improvement from his side. He's pumped. He's confident, and he shows that. He's been playing some great tennis, so no reason for him not to believe that he can put up a great performance, and he's going to go for the win."
- Twenty-five-year-old Aussie Popyrin's season picked up steam north of the border, where he upset five Top 20 players en route to his most prestigious career singles title. That included a win over Ben Shelton, who's also in action on Friday, and a match-point-saving quarterfinal victory Grigor Dimitrov. He later toppled Andrey Rublev in the final. That run put him at a career-high No. 23 in the ATP rankngs, and he currently sits at No. 28.
- Popyrin is seeking to reach Round 4 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, having lost all six times he previously made it this far. That includes twice at the US Open, in 2019 and 2021. And though Popyrin has nine career Top 10 wins, only one of them has come over a Top 5 opponent: It was via retirement, over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2021 Paris Masters.
