Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title came to an unexpected halt on Friday as 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin defeated the defending champion in the third round of the US Open.
Popyrin triumphed with a score of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, marking Djokovic’s earliest exit from the US Open in 18 years and his earliest Grand Slam exit since the 2017 Australian Open, the last time he did not win a major title.
Djokovic, who had previously defeated Popyrin in three encounters, including this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, struggled with a career-high 14 double faults and a total of 49 unforced errors.
“It was just an awful match for me,” Djokovic admitted. “I tried so many things, and sometimes that’s an issue… you move away from the basics that work. You lose the foundation, the movement, the timing, the rhythm, the tempo, everything, whether it’s a serve or any other shot.”
Popyrin, coming off a career-high victory at the Montreal Masters, demonstrated resilience by saving five break points in the sixth game of the match. He capitalized on Djokovic’s errors to secure the first two sets.
Although Djokovic managed to break Popyrin in the third set, Popyrin regained his composure in the fourth set, breaking Djokovic’s serve and closing out the match with a decisive game.
“I was waiting for him to step up,” Popyrin said. “I didn’t want to be one of those moments where Novak comes back from two sets to love down. It was extra motivation for me not to let that happen and to win the fourth set.”
Popyrin will next face Frances Tiafoe, who defeated Ben Shelton in a thrilling five-set match 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3. Tiafoe avenged his quarter-final loss to Shelton from last year’s US Open, with a strong return performance and key breaks in the final sets.
In other results, world number six Andrey Rublev defeated Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, while eighth-seeded Casper Ruud came back from two sets down to win against 19-year-old Shang Juncheng 6-7 (1/7), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.
In the women’s draw, defending champion Coco Gauff overcame a tense match against Elina Svitolina with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Gauff will face Emma Navarro next, who had defeated her in the fourth round at Wimbledon. Navarro advanced by beating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who started her match after midnight due to the delayed schedule, eventually won 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Ekaterina Alexandrova. Seventh-seeded Zheng Qinwen of China, who had come back from a set down in her previous matches, won against Germany’s Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-1, and will face Croatian Donna Vekic next in a rematch of their Paris Olympics gold medal match.
