US Open: Popyrin stuns Djokovic in third round, forces earliest exit since 2006

NEW YORK: Defending champion Novak Djokovic suffered a shock defeat against Australia's Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the US Open on Friday (local time) and made his earliest exit at Flushing Meadows since 2006.

In three hours and 19 minutes long match, Popyrin stunned Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 while playing for the first time at Arthur Ashe Stadium in his career.

The Serbian, who was chasing his record-extending 25th major title and the 100th career title, will end the year without a Grand Slam win for the first time after 2017.

It is also the first season since 2002 when a member of the Big Three (Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal) will not win a major.

Despite Djokovic's history of eight comebacks from two sets down in Grand Slams, he couldn't rally this time in the four-set clash. Popyrin, 25, secured the biggest win of his career, reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. This loss followed the exit of 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz, marking the first time since 1973 that the second and third seeds were ousted before the fourth round.

In stark contrast to Popyrin's 50 winners, Djokovic contributed to his downfall with a career-high 14 double faults in a Grand Slam match, including four that allowed Popyrin to take a 5-2 lead in the fourth set.

Although Popyrin was broken while trying to close out the match, he had built a sufficient lead to secure the victory two games later. Fittingly, Lleyton Hewitt, the last Australian to defeat Djokovic in a Grand Slam, was present to witness Popyrin's significant win.

Before the clash, Djokovic had a 3-0 win record against the Australian including four-set wins at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.

“Third time lucky (this year) I guess,” Popyrin said after the win. “Honestly, we had some battles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. I had my chances in those matches, but didn’t take them. This match was a little different. I was able to take my chances when I had them and played some good tennis.”

“It’s unbelievable because I’ve been in the third round about 15 times in my career, but I haven’t been able to get past to the fourth round. To be able to do it against the greatest of all time to get into the fourth round is unbelievable. It’s a great feeling and the hard work has paid off," he added.

Popyrin will now take on home favorite Frances Tiafoe in his first-ever fourth-round appearance at the US Open. Tiafoe advanced after defeating last year’s semi-finalist Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in a marathon match on Arthur Ashe earlier in the day.