WHAT HAPPENED: Friday night in Flushing Meadows was as much about what didn’t happen as what did.
What didn’t happen? The 2023 US Open men’s champion, Novak Djokovic, did not continue his title defense in 2024. Instead, he was dumped out of the tournament at the hands of a 25-year-old Aussie, Alexei Popyrin, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, in the third round.
What did happen? Popyrin, the world No. 28, notched the greatest win of his life over the greatest of all time. In a nearly three-and-a-half-hour battle, the young Popyrin pushed the No. 2 seed early and often—and didn’t relent.
Djokovic wasn’t just out of sorts. He was either out of bounds, or out of air, depending on the moment. He continually fired shots long, or slices and drop shots into the net, failing to foil Popyrin repeatedly, and clocked seven unforced errors in the first set.
At 2-3 in the first set, Djokovic squandered four break points, unable to fight off Popyrin’s control at the net. At 4-4, Popyrin finally found his break when Djokovic hit a backhand error, giving the Aussie the opening he was waiting and working for. Popyrin built on the break and quickly captured the final two games to win the first set.
Set two mirrored the same style of play and score as the first, and Popyrin found himself up two sets. But Djokovic, as the champion he is, did not relent so easily. He fought back in the third set, only dropping two games—giving himself a glimmer of hope to dig out of the match.
But Popyrin outplayed him in the fourth, and managed to convert two break points to lead 5-2. In the last game, as he served for his first fourth appearance, Popyrin conceded no points to the Serb, and after his 15th ace brought up match point, closed the curtain on Djokovic’s tournament.
After suffering four-set defeats to Djokovic at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, Popyrin got his revenge in New York.
“Third time lucky I guess,” Popyrin said. “Honestly, we had some battles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. I had my chances in those matches, but didn’t take them. This match was a little different. I was able to take my chances when I had them and played some good tennis.
“It’s unbelievable because I’ve been in the third round about 15 times in my career, but I haven’t been able to get past to the fourth round,” Popyrin said. “To be able to do it against the greatest of all time to get into the fourth round is unbelievable. It’s a great feeling and the hard work has paid off.”
After the match, Djokovic noted how disappointing the match—and the tournament—was for him: “He definitely played better and deserved to win today,” he said. “I mean, 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.
“Yeah, it was just an awful match for me.”
Amongst the crowd to witness the history made under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium was 2001 men’s champion Lleyton Hewitt. He is the only other Australian to defeat Djokovic at a Grand Slam, and the last man to beat Djokvic in the third round at the US Open in 2006.
WHAT IT MEANS: Popyrin finally punched through the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in his career, and with it made a major blow to open the men’s draw.
“If he serves well, plays well, he can beat anybody,” Djokovic said of Popyrin.
“Look, Alcaraz is out, I'm out... some big upsets. The draw is opening up. Obviously Sinner is the main favorite, but then, you know, Tiafoe is there as well as American favorite, Fritz. Zverev, you have great guys playing well, and Rublev, Dimitrov in this part of the draw. Anybody can take it. It's going to be interesting to see who takes the title in the end.”
Popyrin will next face American fan-favorite Frances Tiafoe for the pair’s first meeting.
MATCH POINT: In his 17 previous appearances at the US Open, Djokovic had only failed to reach the quarterfinals four times. Tonight’s loss brings that tally to five in 18 showings.
The Paris Olympic champion will end a season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2017. This will also be the first year since 2002 that no member of the Big 3—Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal—wins a major singles crown.
