On Friday, Australian Alexei Popyrin defeated defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the third round of the Grand Slam.

One night after Carlos Alcaraz was stunned at the US Open, defending champion Novak Djokovic was again taken aback when he lost to 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the third round on Friday.

As the second-seeded player, Djokovic was trying to become the first person in tennis history to win 25 Grand Slam singles championships. Instead, after knee surgery in June, he finishes a year without taking home at least one major trophy for the first time since 2017. Before then, that hadn’t happened since 2010.

Now, 2024 will be the first men’s tennis season since 2002 when none of the Big Three—Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer—will have won a Grand Slam title.

The 37-year-old Djokovic has reached to ten Ashe finals and won the championship in 2011, 2015, 2018, and 2023.

However, he appeared physically exhausted and emotionally lifeless on Friday, double-failing 14 times. This might have been the result of exhaustion after he won Serbia’s first Olympic gold medal by defeating Alcaraz in the final at the Paris Games earlier in August.

Alexei Popyrin at his Best level

This was a big turning point for the 25-year-old  Alexei Popyrin, who had previously lost all three of his matches versus Djokovic and all six of his third-round majors matchups.

Though he just won the greatest victory of his career in a hard-court event in Montreal less than three weeks ago, when he defeated five players rated in the top 20, the strong-serving Popyrin is playing at his best level ever.

Popyrin was excellent at the net, going 25 for 36 overall while pushing forward and 10 for 10 when using serve-and-volley strategies. In contrast, Djokovic only managed to win the point on 19 of his 40 trips to the net—partly due to Popyrin’s persistent flicking of passing shots past him.

Popyrin’s explosive forehand ripped through the field, accounting for 22 of his 50 overall wins.

Additionally, he defeated Djokovic five times, winning the fourth game 3-2. Over the course of the more than ten-minute match, Popyrin had four break opportunities. He converted the final one with an inside-out forehand to cap off a 22-stroke exchange before pirouetting, clenching both fists, and roaring. To make it 5-2, he also won Djokovic’s subsequent serve game.

Popyrin’s next challenge is to overcome Frances Tiafoe, ranked No. 20, who overcame No. 13 Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 on Friday in an effort to get to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal..