While he wasn’t in contention after an early exit, Novak Djokovic still took a keen interest in the conclusion of the US Open – publicly hailing three standout performers of the tournament
Novak Djokovic took time to publicly praise three stars of the US Open despite his own disappointment.
The final Grand Slam of the year didn’t go as planned for Djokovic, who was hoping to move ahead of Margaret Court and out into a league of his own with the record for the most major singles titles. However, a surprise third-round defeat to Australian 28th seed Alexei Popyrin meant he couldn’t add to his tally of 24.
That setback didn’t stop Djokovic showing his sportsmanship by supporting those who had more successful tournaments, though, after it came to a conclusion on Sunday. With both him and Carlos Alcaraz out of the competition, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner went on to triumph over American Taylor Fritz in the men’s final.
He took to social media late in the evening in Europe to congratulate Sinner and send commiserations to Fritz. And Djokovic also sent a message to women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Jessica Pegula on Saturday.
The 37-year-old shared three Instagram stories with his 15.5 million followers. The first was a video of Sabalenka celebrating her victory with her hands posed like a tiger’s paw, which he captioned: “Congratulations tigress.”
Djokovic then posted a picture of Sinner holding the trophy, writing in his native Italian: “Congratulazioni.” Acknowledging runner-up Fritz’s efforts, he commented: “Well done on a great tournament and first Grand Slam final.”
Alcaraz also took to his social media to praise Sinner after his second Grand Slam victory, which followed his triumph at the Australian Open in January. His post read: “Congratulations, Jannik! You deserve it! Enjoy the moment!”
This year marked a seismic shift in men’s tennis as not since 2002 have none of the Big Three – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer – secured a Grand Slam title. Alcaraz, 21, claimed glory at both the French Open and Wimbledon, also heralding the first time since 1993 that all majors were won by players aged 23 or under.
Sinner, himself just 23, reflected on this changing of the guard in his post-match press conference, noting: “It’s nice for the sport to see some new champions. Nice to see new rivalries. I feel like the new generation we push each other, trying to improve.
“I always have players and I will always have players who are going to make me a better player, because there are going to be times where they beat me. Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players. I feel it’s good for the sport to have some new champions.”
