Novak Djokovic shockingly lost to Alexei Popyrin in the third round of the 2024 US Open, and he admitted after the match that he had run out of gas.
Two players stood in the Olympic final a few weeks ago, and both of them have disappointed greatly since then. Carlos Alcaraz played far below his level in both Cincinnati and New York.
He’s out of the US Open after being beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp. Djokovic followed him in exiting the event after losing to Popyrin in a match in which the Serbian didn’t play good tennis.
He struggled in his previous two matches as well, particularly with his serve, which wasn’t impressive against the Australian player, either.
There’s an interesting parallel between Alcaraz and Djokovic in light of their Olympic final. Some have openly suggested that the Spaniard would find it hard to digest everything so quickly, and it seemingly happened.
Others have speculated that Djokovic would find it hard to motivate himself. Oddly enough, it did look like he was not motivated enough. The urgency he displayed in Paris wasn’t there in New York.
He almost seemed like a bystander in his matches, which almost never happens. Was it fatigue? Was it emotional fatigue? It’s difficult to say, but Djokovic admitted to running out of gas.
"I don’t know. Maybe. It’s a different surface. It obviously had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold. I did arrive to New York not feeling fresh mentally and physically. Because it’s US Open I gave it a shot. I didn’t have physical issues. I just felt out of gas."
It's an interesting admission by Djokovic because, on the one hand, he claimed to have arrived in good physical and mental shape, but then, on the other hand, he ran out of gas. It's tricky to understand, but Djokovic is not one to mince his words.
If he said that he felt out of gas, he probably did. He certainly didn't look 'young' in New York because Popyrin had no big issues winning the match. Outside of that one set, the Australian looked as comfortable as ever. Djokovic didn't, and he said it was time to just move on.
"You could see that with the way I played from the very beginning. From the first match I didn’t find myself at all on this court. That’s all I can say. Life moves on. I’ll try to recalibrate and look for what’s next."
It's been an unfortunate season for Djokovic. He finally won that elusive gold, which was his main goal in 2024, but he failed to win the historic 25th Grand Slam. Time will tell whether he'll be able to do that next year, but he's not getting any younger, and his rivals are getting better and better.
Next year certainly promises to be interesting, especially for Djokovic, who hopes to add to his incredible legacy.