The Serbian was out of the US Open after losing to Australian Alexei Popyrin in straight sets of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. “It was a horrible match from me,” he said after the match.
The US Open was marked by surprises. Early eliminations of favorites were the trend of the last Grand Slam of the year. Now it was the turn of Novak Djokovic (2nd), remained in the third round after losing to the Australian Alexei Popyrin (28th), in sets of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6 and 6-4.
It was a match that lasted three hours and 19 minutes, where the Serbian was unable to defend his title and was surprised by the game of the Oceanian, who was on the rise. In fact, he managed to win the Canadian Masters 1000.
Nole was aiming for his fifth US Open title, but was defeated by Popyrin. The Australian became strong with his serve and showed consistency throughout the match. He showed aggressive tennis, making the Balkan player uncomfortable, deeply disappointed after the duel.
Djokovic’s Defenses
Djokovic was very self-critical after his defeat to Popyrin. “Honestly, with how I felt and the way I played since the beginning of this tournament, reaching the third round is an achievement. I played some of the worst tennis I have ever played. “, he assured at a press conference.
“My serve was, by far, one of the worst of my life. It was a horrible play on my part. “, he added about a fast surface where the service is transcendental.
Nole also assured that he was exhausted from having participated in the Olympic Games, where he managed to obtain the long-awaited gold medal, the only title he was missing from his list of achievements.I spent a lot of energy to win gold and arrived in New York not feeling mentally and physically fresh. ” he explained.
Djokovic had not played on the cement tour, but decided to play the US Open despite his fatigue.Since it’s the US Open, I gave it my chance and I did my best. I mean, I didn’t have any physical problems. I just didn’t have any gas and it showed in the way I played. “I guess you could say it’s because of the Olympics, but I don’t know. I don’t want to analyze that right now. I was just trying to improve my game here day by day, but it didn’t happen,” he said.
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
