Australian Alexei Popyrin unleashed his brand of Big-Man Tennis to stun Novak Djokovic at the US Open Friday night, ousting the defending champion 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on the back of 50 winners. Djokovic was the partial author of his own demise, serving a career-high 14 double faults in a Grand Slam match, including four to hand Popyrin a double break at 5-2 in the fourth set. That insurance break proved crucial as the Australian was broken in his first attempt to serve out the match but closed it out two games later.
It was the second shocking upset in as many days on Arthur Ashe Stadium, following World No. 74 Botic van de Zandschulp’s straight-sets win over 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz in the second round.
“Third time lucky [this year] 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.”
With the biggest win of his career to date, Popyrin ended Djokovic’s hopes of winning a record-extending 25th Grand Slam men's singles title and 100th career title. Popyrin pushed Djokovic to four sets at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, but came into Friday night’s match with an 0-3 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the legend.
This will be an August to remember for the 25-year-old Aussie, who was also the surprise winner of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal earlier this month. With that win, the current No. 28 jumped to a career-high No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings as he defeated five Top 20 players on his way to the title.
The last time Djokovic ended a season without a Grand Slam triumph was 2017. Not since 2002 has a season gone by without a member of the Big Three (Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal) winning a major.
Popyrin will now face home favourite No. 20 Frances Tiafoe in his first fourth-round appearance at the US Open. This will be the pair’s first meeting in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Tiafoe beat compatriot and last year’s semi-finalist No. 13 Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in a marathon match on Arthur Ashe earlier on Friday.
The defeat was Djokovic's earliest loss at a major since a second-round exit at the 2017 Australian Open at the hands of Denis Istomin. It was also his earliest departure from the US Open since he bowed out in the same round to Lleyton Hewitt in 2006.
The No. 2-seeded Djokovic was trying to become the first player in tennis history with 25 Grand Slam singles titles. Instead, after knee surgery in June, he finishes a year without claiming at least one major championship for the first time since 2017. Before that, it hadn't happened since 2010.
Also of note: 2024 now becomes the first season since 2002 in which none of the Big Three of men's tennis -- Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer -- earned a Slam trophy.
The third-round exit equals Djokovic's worst showing at Flushing Meadows; the only other occasions he was beaten that early at the US Open came in 2005 and 2006. The man who defeated Djokovic 18 years ago, International Tennis Hall of Fame member Lleyton Hewitt, is now Australia's Davis Cup captain and was sitting in Popyrin's guest box in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic, who is 37, has reached the final in Ashe 10 times, leaving with the title in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
On Friday, though, he double-faulted 14 times and looked physically sluggish and emotionally flat, perhaps residual fatigue after collecting his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia by beating Alcaraz in the final at the Paris Games earlier in August.
The No. 3-seeded Alcaraz entered the US Open as the tournament favorite having won the French Open and Wimbledon, and acknowledged his energy was lower than he realized after getting eliminated in New York by 74th-ranked Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night.
For the 25-year-old Popyrin, this represented a real breakthrough: He had been 0-3 against Djokovic and 0-6 in third-round matches at majors.
But the strong-serving Popyrin is playing as well as ever, coming off the biggest title of his career less than three weeks ago at a hard-court tournament in Montreal, where he picked up five wins against opponents ranked in the top 20.
Everything was working against Djokovic, who was not up to his usual high standards.
Popyrin was terrific at the net, going 10 for 10 on serve-and-volley approaches and 25 for 36 overall on points when he pushed forward. Djokovic, in contrast, only won the point on 19 of his 40 trips to the net, in part because Popyrin kept flipping passing shots by him.
Popyrin took big cuts with his powerful forehand, accumulating 22 of his 50 total winners with that shot.
And he broke Djokovic five times, including for a lead of 3-2 in the fourth. That game felt titanic, lasting more than 10 minutes and including four break chances for Popyrin, who converted the last with an inside-out forehand to close a 22-stroke exchange, then rocked back on his heels, clenched both fists and let out a roar. He took Djokovic's next service game, too, to make it 5-2.
The first time Popyrin served for the match, he faltered, allowing Djokovic to break. The second time, Popyrin finished the deal, holding at love when Djokovic sent a forehand long.
Now Popyrin will try to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by getting past No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, who advanced Friday with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 13 Ben Shelton in a matchup between two Americans.
Entering the 2024 US Open, its previous two champions Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were the betting favorites. Then the tournament lost both of them in its first week, in the span of two days, in a sport where titans rarely fall to non-titans.
Djokovic was stunned by No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the third round on Friday, one day after Alcaraz was bounced from the tournament by unseeded Botic Van de Zandschulp. It was the Serbian star's earliest elimination from a Grand Slam since the 2017 Australian Open.
It also means the 2024 US Open will be the first Grand Slam without Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer in the Round of 16 since the 2004 French Open, when Djokovic was 17 (per ESPN). 2024 will also be the first time since 2002 that no member of the Big 3 won a Slam.
Like with the Alcaraz upset, Djokovic was down a set and a break before it ever really felt like he was in trouble. Popyrin took a close first set by routinely storming the net and making Djokovic beat him. Djokovic, still playing with some unspecific injuries, couldn't.
Djokovic looked even worse in the second set, before finally waking up in the third and breaking Popyrin on his first chance. He failed to consolidate that break, but did just fine with the next two. Popyrin appeared to hurt himself late in the second set and made plenty of mistakes in the third that screamed of a person trying to conserve energy.
There were still some fun points, though.
If Popyrin was conserving energy, it paid off in the fourth set. Tied 2-2, the Australian forced four break points and finally broke through on the last one with a gorgeous crosscourt winner:
The ensuing celebration was loud enough that women's singles No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, still waiting to take the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium past midnight local time, copied it in the workout room.
Djokovic got double break point in the next game, but that just gave Popyrin the chance to show his mettle. The next four points: Popyrin forehand winner, Popyrin ace, Popyrin forehand winner, Popyrin ace. Then he broke Djokovic again to all but end the match.
It was an overall ugly match from Djokovic. Whereas Alcaraz fell because he lacked his signature shot-making, Djokovic kept giving away points with 14 double faults, his most ever in a Grand Slam match, and 49 unforced errors. Popyrin had some electric points, but he made enough mistakes himself that a younger — or healthier — Djokovic likely would have made him pay.
Popyrin will advance to face No. 20 Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round, which will be the 25-year-old's first appearance past the third round of a Grand Slam in his entire career. He wasn't an out-of-nowhere upset like van de Zandschulp over Alcaraz, though. Popyrin won the Canadian Open, a significant US Open tune-up event, earlier this month and entered New York City with as much momentum as he's had in his career.
In Tiafoe, he will get a powerful veteran who survived a five-set, four-hour marathon match against Ben Shelton earlier Friday. But he's already got a major career highlight.
Djokovic's loss at the US Open means 2024 will be his first year without a Grand Slam win since 2017. He lost to Sinner at the Australian Open, withdrew from the French Open with a knee injury and fell to Alcaraz in the final at Wimbledon.
Djokovic at least got to enjoy his first Olympic gold this year in Paris, but at 37 years old, it might be time to wonder just how many Slams he has left in him, especially when Alcaraz is only 21 years old and Sinner is 23.
Djokovic will get his next opportunity for a 25th Slam at the Australian Open next year, as well as a chance at an unprecedented 11th title in Melbourne. Only Rafael Nadal has more titles at a single Grand Slam (French Open, 14).
