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There will be a new U.S. Open winner after defending champion Novak Djokovic was stunned by Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the third round on Friday night.
The updated bracket for the U.S. Open is led by No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner preparing to take on Christopher O’Connell in the third round on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET.
The loss came one day after Carlos Alcaraz was upset by Botic van de Zandschulp. This marks just the second time in the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments that won’t feature at least one of Djokovic or Alcaraz in the final (2022 French Open).
Friday’s defeat also ensures that Djokovic won’t win a Grand Slam title in this calendar year for the first time since 2017. This was also the earliest in one of the four big tournaments he has lost since Denis Istomin beat him the second round of the 2017 Australian Open.
“I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly,” Djokovic told reporters after his defeat. “Serving—by far—the worst ever.”
This also the first time since 2002 that none of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won a Grand Slam tournament.
The No. 3 seed committed a career-high 14 double-faults against Popyrin. Four of them came in the second set to give Popyrin a double-break opportunity with a 5-2 advantage.
Djokovic was coming off one of the most dominant seasons of his career in 2023. He reached the final in all four Grand Slam tournaments, winning the Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open.
The Djoker’s only appearance in one of the four major tournament finals this year was at Wimbledon when he lost to Alcaraz. He did salvage things in 2024 by winning his first career Olympic gold medal in Paris.
Friday marked the fourth head-to-head meeting between Djokovic and Popyrin, with Djokovic holding a 3-0 record in the previous three matches. The two most recent meetings were at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.
Popyrin finally got over the hump against arguably the best men’s player of all-time. He has won nine of his last 10 matches overall dating back to the National Bank Open.
Next up for Popyrin will be a showdown with No. 20 Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round on Sunday.
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