Follow live coverage of day 6 of the US Open 2024

NEW YORK — On the fifth day, the king of tennis left the building.

Twenty-four hours after Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the US Open, Novak Djokovic, the reigning champion and 24-time Grand Slam winner, followed him out. The hard-serving and suddenly deadly Australian Alexei Popyrin put Djokovic in the scrap heap of the men’s seeds at this year’s tournament, winning 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Djokovic left the court with his arms raised to the crowd, waving his hands and giving two thumbs up. At midnight in the media room, he said he felt the opposite, from the moment he landed in the US.

He said that given his feeling and the way he played, he considered the third round a success.

“I played some of the worst tennis I’ve ever played, honestly, and served by far the worst I’ve ever served,” he said. “Just a terrible match for me.”

He wasn’t wrong. He double-faulted 14 times against Popyrin and 18 in his other two matches. Since returning from surgery on the medial meniscus in his right knee, his serve motion has been wobbly and wobbly. But the ball still goes into the penalty area. He made only 52 percent of his first serves in the tournament. His career average is in the mid-60s.

He could not explain it. Perhaps it was the emotional and physical strain of the Olympics, where he played one of the greatest matches of his life in the final and ended up kneeling on the clay, shaking with tears. During his days in New York, he felt “exhausted,” unable to find himself on a court where he had won the title four times. He tried every trick he knew, playing faster, then slower, coming to the net more often, then less often, cutting, hitting harder, then softer. Nothing worked.

Novak Djokovic’s service movement had looked awkward for a while, but he still got the ball into the penalty area. Not so this week in New York. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“It was just a really big mental battle for me to play these three matches here, because I wasn’t even close to my best game,” he said. “The game is falling apart, and I think you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.”

They do, but not for him, not usually. When they feel like they could do that, he’s been able to get a little bit better every day and play his way into form. That was the idea in New York this past week, as it has been at so many Grand Slams. But he just couldn’t make it happen.

Thus he evolved from defending champion to tournament analyst, who, like everyone else, tried to understand the draw.

With No. 1 Jannik Sinner still standing, these two results in two nights have opened up the US Open men’s field. Grand Slam near-misses like Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev, and a group of hometown dreamers desperate to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 2003, are suddenly alive with a clearer path.

“Alcaraz is out, I’m out, you know, a couple of big surprises,” he said. “The draw is open. Obviously Sinner is the big favorite, but you know, Tiafoe is there too, and the American favorite Fritz. Zverev, you have great guys playing well, and Rublev, Dimitrov in this part of the draw.

“Anyone can do it.”

Djokovic’s loss was completely explainable and downright astonishing at the same time.

He is 37, two and a half months removed from knee surgery. A month ago, he achieved perhaps the most emotional triumph of his career, a stunning victory over Alcaraz to capture Olympic gold, the only major tennis prize that had eluded him.

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He played that tournament at the Paris Games on the clay of Roland Garros. He did not play a match on hardcourt until his first victory at this year’s tournament in New York, Monday night against Moldovan Radu Albot. The victory at the Olympics — his first title of the year — gave him new energy, but he still said he had achieved everything he wanted to in his career.

As a tennis player he was complete. He showed up at the US Open with his rackets, clothes and equipment in golden bags on the court.

Novak Djokovic struggled to get going against a noisy Arthur Ashe. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

A loss so early in a Grand Slam tournament still comes as a shock. Djokovic hadn’t lost so early in a Grand Slam since 2017, when Denis Istomin knocked him out at the Australian Open. That’s when his right elbow began to deteriorate and he eventually needed surgery.

Over the past four years, only a freak injury, a foul for unintentionally hitting a linesman with a ball and his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus have kept Djokovic out of Grand Slam tournaments.

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On Friday night, Popyrin stood with his loose arm in front of a jubilant crowd of more than 24,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He had already come ahead of Djokovic twice before in Grand Slams this year. He was one point away from a two-sets-to-one lead in the second round at the Australian Open in January. Then he took a set from a handicapped Djokovic at Wimbledon before Djokovic’s strength on grass became too much for him.

Friday night looked set to be a more routine evening for Djokovic. The stifling heat and humidity that had turned Ashe into a steam bath on Wednesday had broken, giving Djokovic a chance to play in the cooler evening air where he normally thrives. He continued to use a cooling tube and mitten during the changeovers.

He seemed only half-interested in the fight during his first few matches. Motivation was sputtering. But then Alcaraz lost, and Djokovic’s path to the title suddenly became clearer. It’s the kind of development that has fueled him in the past. It brought a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title that little bit closer to his grasp, even at the end of a gruelling summer spent battling his aging body.

By the time he took notice of Popyrin, the lean, 6-foot-5 Australian with shoulders as broad as letterboxes had fought his way to a two-set lead, intimidating the greatest returner in the history of the sport with a serve that ducked into corners and took off, allowing Popyrin to easily score second balls with his long drives.

Alexei Popyrin has played against Novak Djokovic three times this year at Grand Slam tournaments. This time he won. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Djokovic had been in this position so many times. Eight times he had come back from two sets down at a major. Last year he did it at this tournament, against his compatriot Laslo Djere.

Usually, all he needs is a service break in the third set to get going. He wins it, and the man on the other side of the net is gone before the relentless surge he knows is coming overwhelms him.

He got that on Friday night against Popyrin and ran away with the third set as the Australian suffered a sprained ankle that limited his range of motion. Djokovic raised his arms to the crowd and urged them to be loud for him, but there was something half-hearted about it, the warrior look in his eyes not really there.

As Djokovic made his comeback, Popyrin said he had tried to balance two conflicting thoughts. Djokovic had a bad night, but he had performed this magic trick many times before. He remained the best male player of the modern era.

Djokovic had no choice but to turn his head and watch as the ball hit the target and the stadium exploded. Popyrin got his first glimpse of the finish line. Normally, Djokovic would pull the ball back into the distance. Instead, Djokovic pushed Popyrin much closer two games later. A series of double faults, punctuated by two brilliant passes from Popyrin and a forehand over the baseline, brought the match to 5-2.

Djokovic stood by his chair for a moment during the changing of the guard, then walked to the back of the court, like a man ready to get his execution over with.

The tactic worked: Popyrin had a weak match and Djokovic got a reprieve.

A match later, Popyrin found his backbone again. An ace on the second serve gave him three match points, then Djokovic’s final forehand went long, ending the night and blowing up the tournament.

(Top photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)