Djokovic: ‘I Played Terribly’
Novak Djokovic admitted that he experienced one of his worst performances at a Grand Slam after losing 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 to Alexei Popyrin at the US Open on the evening of August 30th.
“If you look at my form from the start of the tournament, making it to the third round was already a success,” Djokovic said in his post-match press conference. “I played some of the worst matches of my career here, and this was by far the worst serving match I’ve ever had.”
Djokovic faced a tough challenge against Popyrin, partly due to his opponent’s exceptional performance and partly due to his own decline in form. His unstable serve, which had troubled him since the beginning of the tournament, continued to haunt him. He faced 12 break points throughout the match and only managed to save seven. Djokovic set a personal record with 14 double faults in a single match, including four in the final game of the third set. Over three matches, he committed a total of 32 double faults—a surprising statistic given his caliber.
“On a fast court, if you can’t serve well, you have no chance of winning,” Djokovic admitted. “My first-serve percentage was low, and my second serve was ineffective. You can’t beat someone like Popyrin, who serves well, in that condition. He played much better than I did and deserved the win.”
Exiting in the third round marks Djokovic’s worst result in 18 appearances at the US Open. The last time this happened was in 2005 and 2006, early in his professional career. This year also marks the first time since 2017 that Djokovic has failed to win a Grand Slam title. He hasn’t secured any ATP titles this year either.
Earlier this month, Djokovic reached the pinnacle he had long been missing—an Olympic gold medal in men’s singles. He was in exceptional form, winning the title without dropping a set, including two tie-break wins against Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
“That was a different surface, different conditions,” Djokovic said of his Olympic gold in Paris. “I really gave everything I had for the Olympics, and I arrived in New York not at my best, both mentally and physically. I’m not injured or exhausted, but I feel drained. You could see that in the way I played.”
Djokovic acknowledged that he was not fully present on the court from his first-round match against Radu Albot. The 37-year-old emphasized that if it hadn’t been the US Open, he wouldn’t have participated, as he had been struggling mentally. “It’s not just injuries or mental issues that can cause you to decline. In this case, my problem was that I couldn’t find my rhythm. My game completely fell apart, and sometimes that just happens,” he said.
Djokovic’s record at Grand Slams this year stands at 16 wins and 3 losses. His best result was reaching the final at Wimbledon, where he lost to Alcaraz in three sets. Earlier in the year, he lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open to Jannik Sinner. This is Djokovic’s earliest exit at a Grand Slam since the 2017 Australian Open, where he lost to Denis Istomin in the second round.
