Djokovic's US Open loss makes 2024 the first year since 2002 without a Slam title for the Big Three

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic tried to put on a happy face, if only briefly, after his startling third-round defeat at the U.S. Open. He raised his arms, put two thumbs up and grinned a bit before making his way toward the Arthur Ashe Stadium locker room.

That 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Alexei Popyrin, which ended shortly before midnight as Friday became Saturday, closed the Grand Slam season for Djokovic, marking the first year since 2017 that he didn't win at least one major championship.

For a guy with 24 such titles, more than any other man in tennis history, maybe that's not such a big deal.

Then again, for someone who makes plain that his ambitions lie with accumulating as many of those trophies as possible — and for someone who is 37, don't forget — maybe it is.

“It's hard to see the big perspective right now. You’re just angry and upset that you lost and the way you played, and that’s it,” said Djokovic, who was the defending champion, never has exited the U.S. Open earlier than the third round and last went out this early in 2006.

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

Looking at the larger picture, there is this statistic of significance: 2024 will go in the books as the first season since 2002 without a Slam title for any member of the so-called Big Three of men's tennis — Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

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

No man had collected more than Pete Sampras' 14 at the sport's four most important events until Federer ended up with 20. Nadal then raised the bar to 22. And then Djokovic surpassed him.

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

But with Federer, 43, out of the game, and Nadal, 38, on uncertain ground given a recent series of injuries, including hip surgery a little more than a year ago, now the real question becomes where things stand for Djokovic.

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

Djokovic said there might be some truth to the idea that the physical and mental strain of the Summer Games contributed to his showing in New York, which he called "some of the worst tennis I have ever played," pointing in part to 32 double-faults in three matches, 14 against Popyrin.

“I just felt out of gas,” Djokovic said.

The unusual surface-switching this season, from the French Open’s clay to Wimbledon’s grass to the Summer Games’ clay to the U.S. Open’s hard courts, doesn’t make things any easier. Maybe that's affecting other players who were at the Olympics, too, 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 were gone during Week 1 in New York. Entering Saturday, just one previous men’s champion remained in the bracket, 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev.

A night before Djokovic's exit, 2022 champ Alcaraz's 15-match Grand Slam winning streak ended when he was eliminated from the U.S. Open in straight sets by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.

“Results like that happen,” Popyrin said. “I thought to myself: Why not me today?”

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Howard Fendrich has been the 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