By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
World no. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin bagged the biggest win of his ongoing US Open Grand Slam campaign so far after ousting world no. 2 Serbian ace Novak Djokovic in the third round- 6.4, 6.4, 2.6, 6.4- on August 31, 2024, in Queens, New York.
After the shocking loss absorbed by another Grand Slam hopeful Carlos Alcaraz early in the second round, it was Djokovic this time who crashed out, leaving Jannik Sinner as the only member of the top 3 ranked male tennis players still alive in the main draw.
Going up against one of his tennis idols, Popyrin showed no mercy and embraced the bright lights as he relentlessly imposed his will during their long baseline rally exchanges.
To everyone’s surprise, Djokovic gave up an early service possession in the opening set, allowing Popyrin to capitalize on his next service to bag a 1-0 lead.
Djokovic was in an uncanny state when the service break was scored by Popyrin as he was always seen shaking his head and talking to himself whenever he committed another unforced error.
Eager to bounce back and level the playing field, Djokovic started to target Popyrin’s backhand side to avoid further forehand damages but the courageous challenger displayed his much improved offensive arsenal as he bullied the Serbian with his varied scoring strokes from the baseline to the net area.
Djokovic didn’t stop his revamped strategy as he pressed forward whenever his forehand landed to Popyrin’s wide side but it was still to no avail as he failed to follow it up with several net kills.
The world no. 2 ace regained his footing in the third set and finally produced his usual groundstroke strikes including back-to-back service break points to avoid getting swept.
However, Popyrin came back again in the fourth as his risky tactic of fighting fire with fire paid off. Instead of settling for his top-spin returns, the Australian star sent a flurry of forehand bombs that caught Djokovic off guard.
With only two points needed to complete the stunning upset, Popyrin calmly held his service possessions and capped off the scintillating victory in Queens with a one-handed flick backhand winner.
The loss denied Djokovic of his ultimate goal of extending his Grand Slam championship titles to 25, and will have to wait for 2025 again to resume his campaign as the Australian Open is set to begin in mid-January next year.
