Tennis

"From the first match I didn’t find myself at all": Djokovic on his exit from the US Open-2024

World number two Novak Djokovic has commented on his exit from the US Open-2024.

The Serbian tennis player was defeated by Australia's Alexei Popyrin, currently ranked 28th in the ATP standings, with scores of 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 in the third round of the Grand Slam hard-court tournament in New York.

"I spent a lot of energy winning the gold. I did arrive to New York not feeling fresh mentally and physically. Because it’s US Open I gave it a shot. I didn’t have physical issues. I just felt out of gas. You could see that with the way I played from the very beginning. From the first match I didn’t find myself at all on this court.

Life moves on. I’ll try to recalibrate and look for what’s next.

Congrats to Popyrin and his team. He played better and deserved to win. Honestly with the way I felt and played from the start of the tournament… round 3 is a success. I played some of the worst tennis I’ve ever played. Serving by far some of the worst ever. On a quick surface like this, you can’t win without a serve. You can’t win against the guys who are in form like Alexei. It was just an awful match from me," Djokovic stated, as reported by the US Open press office.

This marks the first time since 2017 that Djokovic has been eliminated from a Grand Slam tournament before the second week. At the 2017 Australian Open, the Serbian player exited in the second round, losing to Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin with scores of 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 4-6.

The 2024 US Open will conclude on September 8th. The prize fund for the New York tournament amounts to $75 million.

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