"Played some of my worst tennis ever": Serbian star Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic during his Round 3 match against Alexei Popyrin on Friday. Pic/AFP; (right) Alexei Popyrin celebrates his win

Defending champion Novak Djokovic admitted he had played "his worst tennis ever" as he slumped to his earliest exit at the US Open in 18 years on Friday, sparking more questions over his long term future in the sport.

The 37-year-old Djokovic, a four-time champion in New York, lost 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 in the third round to 28th-ranked Alexei Popyrin of Australia, leaving him frustratingly short once again of winning a record 25th Grand Slam title.

‘Reaching Rd 3 is a success'

His defeat, which saw him hit an uncharacteristic 14 double faults and commit 49 unforced errors, means that for the first time since 2017 he will end the season without a Grand Slam title. "The way I played from the beginning of the tournament reaching the third round is a success," said a despondent Djokovic, who remains marooned on 24 Slam titles with Margaret Court.

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"I have played some of my worst tennis ever."

Djokovic admitted that the effort and aftermath of winning Olympic gold in Paris just four weeks ago impacted his lacklustre New York campaign. "Obviously it had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically.

Post-Oly fatigue

"But because it's the US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I didn't have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas."

The latest crushing setback comes in a year which saw Jannik Sinner succeed him as Australian Open champion before Carlos Alcaraz took his French Open crown and swept him off court in the Wimbledon final.

Having defeated him in the Australian Open semi-finals, Sinner went on to also take his World No. 1 ranking which Djokovic had held for a combined 428 weeks. A knee injury, which required surgery, forced Djokovic to withdraw from the French Open on the eve of his quarter-final.

Beating Novak is not unbelievable: Popyrin

Alexei Popyrin insisted that his shock US Open triumph over defending champion Novak Djokovic was "not unbelievable" and that winning his maiden Masters title in Montreal on the eve of the tournament "was way bigger". "For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it's a title, and it's a Masters 1000 title. That felt unbelievable," said 25-year-old Popyrin. "Today was something that I kind of thought I could do, you know? Winning a Masters 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head."

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