A new and improved Alexei Popyrin stopped Novak Djokovic in his tracks at the US Open

NEW YORK—Over the years, the US Open has often felt like one Grand Slam too many for Novak Djokovic. He runs out of luck, or out of gas, or out of whatever mystical mix of skill and will that has made him the best male player of the Open Era. In 19 trips to New York, he has won four times, a far cry from his 10 titles at the season’s other hard-court Grand Slam, the Australian Open.

One year he hit a line judge with a ball and was defaulted. Another year he was banned due to his vaccine status. In 2012, he lost a five-set final to Andy Murray, an opponent he generally owned. In 2019, he was forced to retire due to injury. In 2021, he won the first 27 matches at the majors, then had nothing left for the 28th in the Open final.

On Friday night, Djokovic again left without the trophy. His 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin marked his earliest exit here since 2006. This time, Djokovic didn’t mince words about his performance.

“The way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success,” he said. “I mean, I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly, serving by far the worst ever.”

Just from the very beginning, from the first match, I just didn't find myself at all on this court.

Djokovic was asked the obvious question: Was it too hard to recover from winning his Olympic gold medal, on red clay, a month earlier?

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe, maybe. It’s a different surface. I mean, obviously it had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically.”

“I was just looking to really improve my game here on a daily basis, but it just didn't happen.

The Olympics didn’t help, but Djokovic, for the first time since 2017, didn’t win any of the other majors this season, either. In the past, he has worked himself into form during Slams, starting tentatively and finishing confidently. We’ve also seen him play poorly for two sets, before storming back to take the last three, and eventually win the title. In that sense, his loss to Popyrin reminded me a lot of his loss to Jannik Sinner in Melbourne in January. Djokovic was off, yes, but it still took an opponent who was in form and brimming with belief to close him out.

In Sinner and Popyrin, Djokovic was facing a much younger player who was in the midst of a rapid rise. Sinner had just led Italy to the Davis Cup title; Popyrin had just won his first Masters 1000 title, in Montreal. Both times Djokovic looked flat and somewhat disinterested through the first two sets. Both times, he rebounded to win the third set and show brief signs of energy. And both times he couldn’t sustain that energy through the fourth, as the better, more aggressive player on the day mustered up the nerve to beat the GOAT.

The 6’5” Popyrin swooped across the Arthur Stadium court with his long legs and arms and sent his forehand hooking and diving inside the lines. He hit 15 aces, and seemed to pass Djokovic almost as many times. He charged the net and used his length and wingspan to win 25 of 36 points there.

The 25-year-old Australian has always had the show-stopping shots and the powerful serve-plus-one. But he has worked this year on the more mundane aspects of the sport: his fitness, his return, his defense. And that’s what finally won him this match. Just when Djokovic looked ready to flip the switch and run away with the last three sets, Popyrin stopped him in his tracks.

After losing the third set 6-2, Popyrin found himself down two break points in his first service game of the fourth. Djokovic was fist-pumping, and the crowd was behind him. Everyone watching knew what was going to happen next.

Except that Popyrin didn’t let it happen. He hit two good second serves to save both break points. Two games later, he broke Djokovic with a 96-m.p.h. forehand and let out a mighty roar. He had lost twice to the Serb at Slams this year; but it wouldn’t happen to him a third time.

“I think the way I composed myself and the way I tactically played the match, that was up there with one of the best matches that I have played,” Popyrin said.

Ultimately, he wouldn’t let himself become another name on Djokovic’s list of comeback victims.

“There’s countless times when he’s come back from two sets to love down, and I didn’t want to be one of those moments,” Popyrin said. “That was going through my head. It was kind of extra motivation for me not to do that and to win that fourth set.”

Djokovic won the prize he wanted most in 2014, the Olympic gold. But he didn’t win any of the prizes he’s most famous for, the Grand Slams.

Popyrin, meanwhile, has seen his ceiling rise much higher over the past month. Lleyton Hewitt, another Aussie who has beaten Djokovic, watched Popyrin follow in his footsteps from his box tonight. The younger man says he’d like to stay on Hewitt’s path for as long as possible.

“To be mentioned in the same name as Lleyton, one of our greats, is always unbelievable,” Popyrin said. “Hopefully I can continue that trend and do some more things that Lleyton has done in the past.”