Djokovic: “It was a terrible match on my side” | ATP Tour

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Djokovic: “It was a terrible match on my side”

The Serbian reflects on his third-round exit from the US Open

August 31, 2024

Novak Djokovic did not hide his disappointment with his performance against Alexei Popyrin on Friday at the US Open, but neither did he hide his admiration for the Australian’s high level.

“Congratulations to him and his team. He definitely played better and deserved to win today,” Djokovic said at a press conference. “For me, honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, the third round is a success. I mean, I’ve reached one of my worst levels, and with the serve, the worst by far.”

Djokovic committed 32 double faults in his three matches at Flushing Meadows, including 14 against Popyrin (his career high for a Grand Slam match). The 24-time Grand Slam champion dropped serve five times against the Australian.

“If you play on a fast surface like this without the serve, without the ability to win free points there, with a very low first serve percentage and a lot of double faults, you can’t win,” Djokovic said. “You can’t win like that, especially against players who are in form like Alexei, who serves hard and puts a lot of pressure on your service game. Yeah, it was a terrible match from my side.”

Earlier this month, Djokovic reached one of his career highs at the Paris Olympics, where he produced a memorable performance by defeating Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal. But the Serbian, who did not play a hard-court tournament before coming to New York, never found the same level at the final major of the season.

“It’s a different surface. Obviously it had an effect. I spent a lot of energy to win gold, and I came to New York not feeling fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic said. “But because it’s the US Open, I tried and did the best I could. I didn’t have any physical problems. I just felt drained of energy and it showed in the way I played.”

“From the beginning, from the first match, I didn’t feel at all on this court. That’s all I can say. Life goes on. I’ll try to recalibrate and see what comes next.”

Djokovic said it was “a huge mental struggle” to compete at the US Open, where he is a four-time champion. He admitted he had never played anywhere near his best tennis.

“It’s not good to be in that state where you feel good physically and of course you are motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just aren’t able to find your game. That’s all,” Djokovic said. “I guess you have to accept that there are tournaments like this.”

“You could argue it’s because of the Olympics, but I don’t know. I don’t want to go into that right now. I was just looking to really improve my game here on a daily basis, but it just didn’t happen.”

The 37-year-old has compiled a 16-3 record at Grand Slam tournaments this year, marking the first season in which he has not won a major since 2017. His best result came at Wimbledon, where he reached the final before falling to Alcaraz.

The 99-time tour champion’s loss at Popyrin marks his earliest exit at a Slam since the 2017 Australian Open, where he lost to Denis Istomin in the second round.

“Fresh off the court, you have a bitter taste in your mouth and you don’t like losing, even though I had a lot more wins than losses in this tournament and really in any other tournament. So I have to draw a line,” Djokovic said. “Sitting from a bigger perspective, of course I have to be happy. It’s hard to see the bigger picture right now. You’re just angry and upset that you lost and the way you played and that’s it. But tomorrow is a new day and obviously I’ll think about what to do next.”