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NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic tried to placed on a completely happy face, if only briefly, after his surprise third-round loss on the U.S. Open. He raised his arms, gave a thumbs-up and grinned just a little before making his strategy to the Arthur Ashe Stadium locker room.
With this 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Alexei Popyrin, which ended shortly before midnight when Friday became Saturday, Djokovic's Grand Slam season ended. It was the primary yr since 2017 during which he didn’t win a minimum of one major title.
For a person with 24 such titles, greater than another man in tennis history, this may occasionally not be such an enormous deal.
On the opposite hand, possibly it’s when someone makes it clear that his ambition is to win as lots of these trophies as possible – and let's not forget, he’s 37 years old.
“It's hard to see the big picture right now. You're just angry and upset about the loss and the way you played and that's it,” said Djokovic, the defending champion who had never been eliminated before the third round on the U.S. Open and last exited so early in 2006.
“But tomorrow is a new day,” he continued, “and I will of course think about what to do next.”
Looking at the larger picture, the next significant statistic stands out: 2024 will go down in history as the primary season since 2002 during which no member of the so-called “Big Three” of men’s tennis – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – will win a Grand Slam title.
Federer, now retired, won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003, starting a remarkable winning streak for the trio. In total, they’ve won 66 Grand Slam titles.
No other player had collected more points in the game's 4 major tournaments than Pete Sampras' 14, until Federer finally reached 20. Nadal then raised the bar to 22. And then he was surpassed by Djokovic.
“They took it to a whole new level,” Casper Ruud said when Federer retired in 2022, “and showed that anything is possible.”
But with Federer, 43, out of the sport and Nadal, 38, on uncertain ground resulting from a series of injuries, including hip surgery just over a yr ago, the query now could be what is going to occur to Djokovic.
He lost within the semifinals of the Australian Open, withdrew before the quarterfinals of the French Open because he needed surgery on his right knee, and lost in the ultimate of Wimbledon to Carlos Alcaraz. But what mattered most to Djokovic this yr was winning his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia – and he did just that, beating Alcaraz in the ultimate in Paris.
Djokovic said there could also be some truth within the suggestion that the physical and mental strain of the Summer Games contributed to his performance in New York, calling the match “the worst tennis I've ever played,” citing 32 double faults in three matches, including 14 against Popyrin.
“I just ran out of steam,” said Djokovic.
The unusual change of surfaces this season, from the clay court of the French Open to the grass court at Wimbledon to the clay court of the Summer Games to the hard court of the US Open, doesn’t make things any easier. Perhaps this also affects other players who’ve played within the Olympics, especially Alcaraz.
It is the primary time since 2000 – and only the second time within the Open Era, which stretches back to 1968 – that two of the highest three male players have dropped out in Week 1 in New York. By Saturday, just one former male champion remained in contention, 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev.
One night before Djokovic's exit, 2022 champion Alcaraz's 15-match Grand Slam winning streak ended when he was eliminated in straight sets by 74th-seeded Botic van de Zandschulp on the US Open.
“Such results happen,” said Popyrin. “I thought to myself: why not me today?”
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