Djokovic’s dream of winning his 25th Grand Slam title has been shattered for now
Novak Djokovic’s dream of winning his 25th Grand Slam title has been shattered for now. The former world number 1 was eliminated by Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the 2024 US Open, unable to defend his title won in New York last year.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion did not arrive at Flushing Meadows in the best possible condition, being tired after his incredible triumph at the Paris Olympics. The 37-year-old from Belgrade has been pushing his way to achieve the last big dream of his legendary career and his decision not to play in the Montreal and Cincinnati Masters 1000 was not enough to get back into shape.
Novak didn’t feel good against Radu Albot and Laslo Djere either, even though he won without losing a set. The Australian ace – who had already created problems in Nole this year at Australia and Wimbledon – took advantage of this great opportunity to achieve the most prestigious victory of his career. Popyrin plays his best tennis this surface and is in great confidence having just won his first Masters in Montreal. The Australian player was also mentally flawless, continuing to play his tennis without fear even when Djokovic won the third set.
Nole will lose several positions
Due to the premature loss at the US Open – where he had won the title in 2023 – Djokovic will lose several positions in the ATP ranking. During the latest edition of the show ‘Sans Filet’, top analyst Benoit Maylin commented on Nole’s performance against Popyrin: “He has four or five break points to lead 4–2 in the first set. He can’t do it.
He can’t make a difference even in the fourth set where he has the ability to lead 2-0 right away, take the upper hand. He said it afterwards: he really wondered whether he wanted to come to the US Open after this Olympic gold medal or not. We can see that the tank is a little dry. Besides, will Djokovic, who is seventh in the race, really fight to get one more Masters or let go, settle down and rebuild for 2025? He’s capable of doing this kind of thing. Like all these crazy people, he wants more. He sees that he has the chance to win another Grand Slam title when at the end of the year it was said he would win three or four more Majors.”
The former world number 1 has never found the right rhythm to serve and has made many unusual errors for a legend of his caliber. “I tried many things, and sometimes that’s a problem, the fact of getting away from the fundamentals of your game that work. You lose the foundation of your tennis” – the 24-time Grand Slam champion explained in the press conference.
“You lose mobility, timing, rhythm, everything, whether it’s with the serve or any other shot. The three matches I’ve played here have been a tremendous mental struggle because I wasn’t playing anywhere near my best level. It’s not positive to feel like this, feeling good physically and motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but simply unable to find your game. That’s it. Your game falls apart, and I suppose you have to accept that tournaments like this can happen. You could argue that it’s because of the Olympics, but I don’t know. I don’t want to analyze that right now. My plan was to improve my tennis on a daily basis here, but I haven’t achieved it” – he added.
The joy of the Australian ace
Popyrin – on the other hand – knew he had a good chance against an unbrilliant version of the Serbian champion and he took it very well. “I would say that the level of play I displayed today wasn’t the highest in my career. I’ve played matches where I felt much better than today, but I will remember this encounter as one where I showed more tactical order in my tennis. From the start, I realized Novak wasn’t playing well and expected him to raise his game. Being two sets up made me think he was about to stage a comeback, which was an extra motivation for me to prevent it,” he explained.
Alexei continued: “For me, winning the title in Montreal was much more significant than today because a Masters 1000 title wasn’t something I had even considered. Beating Novak is something I had in mind I could do after playing so well in the previous matches against him. In fact, those encounters provided me with the necessary confidence to step onto the court tonight knowing I could achieve it. It’s incredible to think that the best in the world play every week with this confidence that comes from having won a major title.”
