At the beginning of August, Novak Djokovic took home his first Olympic gold in his career and, as usual, entered the grand slam tournament US Open as one of the early favorites.
But already after the third round, it’s final competition for the 37-year-old world number two.
Alexei Popyrin of Australia, ranked 28 in the world, was actually much better than Djokovic, taking the match 3–1 in sets from 6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4.
For him, this is one of the absolute greatest triumphs of his career.
– It feels absolutely incredible because I have never progressed to the fourth round. And to do it against one of the best of all time is an absolutely incredible feeling. The hard work has paid off, he says almost tearfully after the match.
The ruckus comes after another one of the favorites, world number three Carlos Alcaraz, was knocked out. The Spaniard was defeated by the unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.