The number two seeded Serb had to admit defeat to the Australian Alexei Popyrin after 3 hours and 19 minutes with 4:6, 4:6, 6:2, 4:6. Olympic champion Djokovic will have to wait a little longer for his 25th Grand Slam title, as the 37-year-old did not win a major this year.
Popyrin, seeded 28th, once again demonstrated his strong hard court form and showed some inspiring tennis at times. He celebrated spectacular point wins with great enthusiasm and repeatedly fired up the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium. In preparation, Popyrin won the Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal and now made it to the round of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.
“This match was different”
In the first interview, Popyrin recalled matches against Djokovic at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. “I had my chances in those matches, but I didn’t take advantage of them. This match was a bit different, I was able to take advantage of my chances and played good tennis.”
The day before, the world number three and number three seed Carlos Alcaraz from Spain had also surprisingly lost in the second round to the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. According to the table, there would be nothing to prevent a final between Jannik Sinner (ITA-1) and Alexander Zverev (GER-4).