After Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic has also been eliminated from the US Open. This also brings an end to a long series.
Caption: Things weren’t going well… …for Novak Djokovic. Keystone/AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson
Novak Djokovic spoke of the “worst tennis of all time” after his elimination from the US Open. Barely 24 hours after world number 3 Carlos Alcaraz had to say goodbye to the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, world number 2 Djokovic also threw in the towel.
And earlier than he has in a long time. Djokovic had not failed so quickly at a Grand Slam since 2017. Back then, he was already beaten by Denis Istomin in the second round of the Australian Open. It was the start of a plague season: Djokovic did not win a single Grand Slam title in 2017.
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Something that hasn’t happened to him since then – until this year: semi-final exit at the Australian Open, quarter-final exit at the French Open, final defeat at Wimbledon and now the early exit in New York.
This brings an end to a series spanning over 20 years: Since 2003, at least one of the “Big Three” – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic – has always won a major title. The 2024 titles went to Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz twice. The new generation seems to be increasingly outperforming the old one.
Paris as a hurdle?
Djokovic can at least console himself with the fact that he triumphed at the Olympic Games in Paris and thus closed the last gap in his list of achievements. However, the additional highlight in the middle of the season seems to have left its mark.
Not only Djokovic and Alcaraz (gold + silver), but also bronze winner Lorenzo Musetti and fourth-placed Félix Auger-Aliassime have already been eliminated from the US Open.
Many first-time winners
His strength seems to wane towards the end of the year. However, this is not the first time that this has happened. Time and again, the favorites fail in Flushing Meadows earlier than expected. Federer won five times in a row from 2004 to 2008. Since then, however, no player has managed to defend the title.
Time and again, surprising players have been able to celebrate as Grand Slam winners in New York: Juan Martin Del Potro, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev. For all of them, it was the first and only major title.
And this year? World number one Sinner is in pole position. But it wouldn’t be surprising if a player ended up celebrating his first Grand Slam title.
