Novak Djokovic showed his class as he publicly hailed three US Open stars. The final Grand Slam of the year didn’t go to plan for Djokovic, who was once again aiming to move clear of Margaret Court for the most major singles titles.

He couldn’t add to his tally of 24, though, suffering a shock third-round defeat to Australian 28th seed Alexei Popyrin. But that didn’t stop him from showing his support to those who had far more successful tournaments.

In the absence of him and Carlos Alcaraz, who suffered an even more surprising second-round defeat to unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner went on to beat American Taylor Fritz in the men’s final – with Djokovic sending a message to both post-match, as well as women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka.

The 37-year-old shared three story posts to his 15.5million Instagram followers, the first a video of Sabalenka celebrating with her hands posed like a tiger’s paw after beating Jessica Pegula on Saturday. “Congratulations tigress”, he wrote in the early hours of Monday morning.

Djokovic then captioned a picture of Sinner holding the trophy in his native Italian: “Congratulazioni.” And he didn’t forget runner-up Fritz, telling him: “Well done on a great tournament and first Grand Slam final.”

Alcaraz also took to social media to give Sinner his flowers after the second Grand Slam triumph of his career, which this year followed his win at the Australian Open in January. He posted: “Congratulations, Jannik! You deserve it! Enjoy the moment!”

It’s the first time since 2002 that none of the Big Three – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – have won a Grand Slam. Alcaraz, 21, was victorious at the French Open and Wimbledon, also marking the first time since 1993 that the majors were won by players aged 23 or under.

Sinner, 23, praised that in his post-match press conference, arguing: “It’s nice for the sport to see some new champions. Nice to see new rivalries. I feel like the new generation we push each other, trying to improve.

“I always have players and I will always have players who are going to make me a better player, because there are going to be times where they beat me. Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players. I feel it’s good for the sport to have some new champions.”