Novak Djokovic won't defend his title at the US Open, and as a result, he will also experience a significant drop in the ATP Rankings.
The Serbian player entered the last major tournament of the season after one of the biggest victories in his tennis career. He bested Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which was the only big triumph that he missed in his collection.
The 37-year-old then took a few weeks off, missing both ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in North America, the Canadian Open in Montreal, and the Cincinnati Open, which led up to the New York Slam.
He was the defending champion at the Cincinnati Open, so missing that even cost him 1,000 points. At Flushing Meadows, he had the challenging task of defending another 2,000 points for last year's victory.
The 24-time major winner clearly struggled in his first two matches, mostly with his serve, but thanks to his incredible talent, he was able to overcome lower-ranked opponents.
However, recent Canadian Open champion Alexei Popyrin was an opponent of another caliber, and it showed in the third-round match, as the Australian sensationally defeated Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
For him, it was a great victory, as he lost to Djokovic twice this year at majors, even though he managed to win one set every time. As a result of the triumph, he also reached the second week of a Slam for the first time in his career.
"Third time lucky [this year] I guess. 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."
While it was time to celebrate for the Australian tennis player, Djokovic will be looking towards the remainder of the season, aiming to pick his spots carefully.
In addition to recent form struggles, his job of adding further titles might become even harder, as he will be entering tournaments seeded lower than before, meaning he will have to take on higher-ranked opposition earlier in the tournament.
Due to his loss in the third round, Djokovic will lose an astonishing 1,900 points, bringing his total to 5,560. That will allow both Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz to overtake him by more than 1,000 points.
However, that still isn't the end of misery for the Serbian legend. While he's ensured to drop to at least the fourth position in the ATP Rankings, he could drop even further.
If Daniil Medvedev reaches the semi-finals at the tournament he won in 2021, he will send Djokovic to fifth place. On top of that, if Andrey Rublev reaches the final, or Casper Ruud or Grigor Dimitrov wins the title at the 2024 US Open, Djokovic will drop further to sixth position, which would be his lowest since 2022.