Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic tried to put on a cheerful face, if only for a moment, after his surprise third-round defeat at the U.S. Open. He raised his arms, gave a thumbs-up sign and grinned slightly before walking toward the locker room at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

That 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Alexei Popyrin, which ended shortly before midnight as Friday turned into Saturday, marked the end of Djokovic’s Grand Slam season. It was the first year since 2017 that he failed to win at least one major championship.

What does Novak Djokovic’s latest Grand Slam loss mean?

For someone with 24 such titles, more than anyone else in tennis history, that may not be such a big deal.

But hey, for someone who makes it clear that his ambitions lie in collecting as many trophies as possible – and don’t forget that for someone who is 37 – perhaps that is true.

“It’s hard to see the bigger picture now. You’re just angry and upset that you lost and the way you played, and that’s it,” said Djokovic, who was the reigning champion, had never exited the US Open earlier than the third round and last did so early in 2006.

“But tomorrow is another day,” he continued, “and I will obviously think about what to do next.”

Does this mean the end of the era of the Big Three?

Looking at the bigger picture, there’s this statistic that matters: 2024 will go down as the first season since 2002 without a Grand Slam title for any of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis: Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Federer, now retired, won his first major at Wimbledon in 2003, beginning a remarkable run of greatness for the trio. Their combined total is 66 Grand Slams.

No one had surpassed Pete Sampras’ 14 across the sport’s four premier events until Federer finished with 20. Nadal then raised the bar to 22. And then Djokovic surpassed him.

“They took it to a whole other level,” Casper Ruud said when Federer retired in 2022, “and showed that anything is possible.”

But with Federer (43) out of the running and Nadal (38) on uncertain ground due to a series of recent injuries, including hip surgery just over a year ago, the real question is how Djokovic is doing.

He lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open, withdrew before the quarterfinals of the French Open because he needed surgery on his right knee, and was defeated in the final at Wimbledon by Carlos Alcaraz. What mattered most for Djokovic this year was winning his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia — and that he did, beating Alcaraz in the final in Paris.

Why are there so many surprises at the US Open?

Djokovic said there may be some truth to the idea that the physical and mental demands of the Summer Games contributed to his performance in New York. He called it “one of the worst tennis matches I’ve ever played,” citing 32 double faults in three games, 14 of them against Popyrin.

“I just had no energy left,” Djokovic said.

The unusual change of surface this season, from clay at the French Open to grass at Wimbledon to clay at the Summer Games to hard courts at the US Open, doesn’t make things any easier. It may also have implications for other players who were at the Olympics, notably Alcaraz.

It’s the first time since 2000 — and only the second time in the Open era, which dates to 1968 — that two of the top three men’s seeds have disappeared during Week 1 in New York. Only one previous champion remained in the bracket on Saturday, 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev.

The night before Djokovic’s elimination, 2022 champion Alcaraz’s 15-match Grand Slam winning streak came to an end when he was knocked out in three sets by 74th-seeded Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open.

“Such results happen,” Popyrin said. “I thought to myself, why not me today?”

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Howard Fendrich has been AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis