Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, reacts against Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, during a third round match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
A day after Carlos Alcaraz, holder of the last two Major titles and heavy tournament favourite, was bundled out of the US Open in a shock second-round defeat, his big rival for the title followed suit.
An out-of-focus, off-colour Novak Djokovic was well beaten by the fiery challenge from Alexei Popyrin, the rising World No. 28 from Australia, succumbing 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 in just over three hours on Friday night to end his title defence in the third round. It was a defeat that was both an upset, as well as perfectly characteristic of Djokovic’s streaky 2024 season, at many points of which he has failed to lift himself to meet his ridiculously high standards.
Justifications and circumstances aside, for the Serb to lose this early in a Major remains a shock. Djokovic failed to make the second week at a Slam for the first time since the 2017 Australian Open, and this was his earliest defeat at the US Open since 2006. He has gone the entire calendar year without winning a Major, only for the fourth time since winning his first one.
Perhaps laying bare the transitional moment men’s tennis is currently going through, with Djokovic the only leading light of the previous order, 2024 is the first year since 2002 in which neither of him, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer won at least one Major.
Djokovic looked out of touch from the off. Serving poorly and failing to find the usual acute angles he finds from his groundstrokes, he was comfortably the worse player as he went two sets down. Just then, the familiar script began to emerge.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has come back from two sets down eight times in his career, including on his way to the title at Flushing Meadows last year. After he emerged refreshed in the third set, he took control and punished Popyrin’s mistakes to rout the third set.
Alexei Popyrin has been waiting for this breakthrough.
And he did against Novak Djokovic. pic.twitter.com/y4Y6Vf5plG
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2024
The comeback momentum was on, but Djokovic looked utterly out of steam to ride it. He let his level drop as Popyrin stayed strong to take the fourth set and the victory.
It had been an unusually off night for the Serb. He hit 14 double faults – the most he had ever hit in one match in his career – and won just 38% of the return points he faced, two areas of the game where Djokovic is the out-and-out class leader. Later, he did not mince words about his performance.
“It was just an awful match for me,” he was quoted as saying by AP. “I wasn’t playing even close to my best. It’s not good to be in that kind of state where you feel OK physically, and of course you’re motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just are not able to find your game. That’s it. The game is falling apart, and I guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.”
Credit must come Popyrin’s way too. Unlike Alcaraz, Djokovic fell to an opponent of much higher stature that was roaring in form. The 6’5’ Aussie has been one to watch with his big serve and booming groundstrokes for many years, but recently, after improving the duller parts of his game like his fitness and return, he has emerged as a more rounded challenger. A month ago, he won the Canada Masters, one of the biggest non-Slam tournaments on the calendar, in the buildup to the US Open.
His improvement and hot form were rewarded with the biggest win of his life. “I didn’t want to be one of those moments where Novak kind of stepped up and came back from two-sets-to-love down. That was going through my head,” he said after the match, in which he hit a whopping 50 winners.
That moment for Alexei Popyrin 😤 pic.twitter.com/DbAMvn4rGJ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2024
For Djokovic, though, the heavy nature of the taxing summer came to pass. “Obviously, it (the Olympics) 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. But because it’s the US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I mean, I didn’t have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas. And you could see that with the way I played,” he said.
It cannot be mere coincidence that all three Olympic medallists, including the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, were knocked out of Flushing Meadows within 24 hours. Just a few weeks prior to playing on the clay of Paris, all three reached at least the semifinals on the grass courts of Wimbledon too.
But there is more to Djokovic’s off season than calendar congestion. Losses to unheralded players have crept in with more frequency – he was defeated by Luca Nardi, ranked outside the top 100, in Indian Wells, and later by the lower-ranked Alejandro Tabillo and Tomas Machac during the European clay season.
At the Majors, he lost to both Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in disappointing fashion. After making significant changes to his team this year and parting ways with coach Goran Ivanisevic, he is down to a skeletal support staff and no coach, working out the tactics himself. His high standards make it easy to forget that he is still just two months removed from knee surgery.
Injury trouble, change and transition, and poor form can wear down even the men’s tennis GOAT. His inability to bring himself back to perform one of his trademark turnarounds on Friday suggested just that.
Alarm bells must not ring yet. Djokovic’s base level fitness still suggest he can play a full season. His emphatic performance against Alcaraz in the Olympic final show he can still will himself to great heights. The next few months can be big for the Serb, who can take a break to reset, and pick and choose the big tournaments he plays to work himself back to form.
Judgement calls, over whether Djokovic’s rein as king of Majors has truly ended or if 2024 was a blip, must await next year’s Australian Open, at the very least.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 31-08-2024 at 19:15 IST
