Barely 24 hours after Carlos Alcaraz slumped to a shock defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp, Djokovic suffered his earliest loss at a major since 2017, when he fell to Denis Istomin in round two of the Australian Open. Given that Djokovic and Alcaraz contested a mentally and emotionally draining Olympic final earlier this month, it feels very much like a case of after the lord mayor’s show – all the more so when you consider that Lorenzo Musetti, the bronze medallist in Paris, was beaten in four sets by Brandon Nakashima earlier in the day.

On a night when he hit a career-high 14 double faults and 49 unforced errors in all, Djokovic looked bereft of inspiration and energy, much as Alcaraz had done the previous evening. Having scaled the heights at Roland Garros, where he staged a masterclass to end his long wait for the only significant omission from his trophy collection, the 37-year-old plumbed the depths at Flushing Meadows, afterwards offering a scathing assessment of his 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 defeat to Popyrin, the Australian world No 28.

“Honestly, the way I felt, and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success,” said Djokovic, the defending champion, after failing to make the second week in New York for the first time since 2006.

“I played some of the worst tennis I’ve ever played. Serving, by far, the worst ever. If you play on a quick surface like this without the serve, without the ability to win free points there, very low first-serve percentage, many double faults, then you can’t win. You can’t win, especially against the guys who are in form like Alexei, who’s serving big and puts a lot of pressure on your service games. It was just an awful match from me.

“Obviously [the Olympics] had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically. But because it’s the US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I didn’t have any physical issues, I just felt out of gas – and you could see that with the way I played from the very beginning. From the first match, I just didn’t find myself at all on this court.”

While the result marked a seven-year low for Djokovic, it also brings up a seminal moment for the men’s game more broadly. This is the first season since 2002 that none of the “big three” of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have won a major and, while that moment had to come eventually, it has created a palpable sense of opportunity.

Perhaps this will be the moment when Alexander Zverev, beaten by Dominic Thiem in the final four years ago and seeded to meet Djokovic in the semi-finals this time around, finally makes his long-awaited grand slam breakthrough? Ditto Casper Ruud, pipped to the post by Alcaraz two summers ago, who will face home favourite Taylor Fritz for a place in the last eight. Hopes of an end to the American grand slam drought that dates back to Andy Roddick’s 2003 title run will centre too on Frances Tiafoe, a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3 winner over Ben Shelton. And that is before we even get to Jannik Sinner, the world No 1 and Australian Open champion, or Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, either of whom could maintain the status quo by claiming a second hard-court slam.

“Look, Alcaraz is out, I’m out, some big upsets,” said Djokovic. “The draw is opening up. Obviously Sinner is the main favourite, but then Tiafoe is there as well as American favourite Fritz. Zverev. You have great guys playing well, and [Andrey] Rublev, [Grigor] Dimitrov in this part of the draw. Anybody can take it.”

Djokovic included Popyrin in that appraisal – “He’s just beaten me, the defending champion, so he deserves credit for that and respect,” said the Serb – and certainly the 25-year-old’s trajectory this year has offered cause for optimism.

The Australian won a maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal earlier this month, and extended Djokovic to a fourth set at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. The belief Popyrin has taken from those performances was evident at the key moments, perhaps most notably when he fended off break points midway through the first set and early in the fourth. A slip at either juncture might have proved fatal, but Popyrin held firm for what was, on paper at least, the most significant win of his career – even if he insisted afterwards that his win in Montreal took precedence.

“For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it’s a title and it’s a Masters 1000 title,” said Popyrin, who has never previously reached the last 16 of a major. “That felt unbelievable. Today was something that I kind of thought I could do, you know? Winning a Masters 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head.

“But my two experiences against him earlier this year in the Australian Open and Wimbledon gave me the confidence to go out there tonight and believe that I could win – and actually do it and believe it. So when I did it, that kind of proved me right, proved what I was thinking right. It wasn’t something that was unbelievable, like Montreal.”

Be that as it may, most will find it hard to look at a US Open draw shorn of Djokovic and Alcaraz after just five days without feeling a sense of incredulity.

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The Serbian world No 1 is rarely more dangerous than when provoked and, having earlier seemed oddly becalmed as he came within a whisker of trailing by two sets to one, he predictably came out fighting following exchange, dropping just one more game. As for the spectator, he wisely elected to remain in his seat.

“There was a lot of things that were being told to me on the court, particularly from that corner, and the same side, the other corner,” said Djokovic following his 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory. “I was tolerating it for most of the match. 

“At one point I had enough, and I asked him whether he wants to come down and tell it to my face. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the courage to come down. That’s what I was asking him: if you have courage, if you’re such a tough man, tough guy, come down and tell it to my face, and let’s have a discussion about it. He was apologising from far away.”

Djokovic acknowledged that the flashpoint provided a catalyst for victory – “maybe that was needed,” he grinned – yet the 36-year-old already had plenty to contend with. Not least Popyrin, a 24-year-old from Sydney with a heavy serve and a big forehand who had expressed confidence beforehand that he had the firepower to discomfit Djokovic and, after a slow start, made good on that bold prediction. 

Helped by a slew of forehand errors from Djokovic that suggested the Serb is still feeling the effects of the wrist injury he sustained at the United Cup, Popyrin broke for the first time early in the second set and, riding an impassioned wave of support from the crowd, served to level the contest in the ninth game. 

Djokovic managed to wriggle out of that hole, but two more missed forehands and a Popyrin net cord brought up a pair of set points for the Australian in the next game, the second of which he converted with a sumptuous topspin lob.

With the atmosphere in Rod Laver Arena electric, Popyrin continued to press, and as Djokovic served to stay in the third set at 5-4, another sequence of errors from the defending champion gifted the home favourite four set points. Djokovic, who has been suffering from a viral illness, showed signs of fatigue throughout that middle phase of the match, and we shall never know what might have unfolded had Popyrin been able to capitalise. As it was, the Australian joined the lengthy list of players undone by an apparently below-par Djokovic at an event he has won 10 times.

“I haven’t been playing or feeling at my best the last week or so,” said Djokovic, who will next face Tomás Martín Etcheverry, the Argentinian who ended Andy Murray’s tournament. 

“It’s frustrating at times, the level of tennis that I’m playing on the court and some uncharacteristic mistakes that I make. At the same time, that’s sport. You can’t always feel your best or play your best, and you have to find a way to win.

“Can I be satisfied? I can be satisfied with the win. With my tennis, not so much. But it’s normal to go through these kind of periods or circumstances. You just have to embrace it, try to accept what it is, and build from there. As the tournament progresses, hopefully things will go in a positive direction in terms of how I feel and play.”

Jannik Sinner, who claimed wins over Djokovic at the ATP Finals and Davis Cup in the final weeks of last season, advanced into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over Jesper De Jong of the Netherlands. Seeded fourth, the 22-year-old Italian is expected to face the defending champion, who also dropped a set in the previous round against Dino Prizmic, in the semi-finals.

Also through is Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek seventh seed, who saved four set points to avoid going into a decider against Jordan Thompson. Tsitsipas defeats the talented Australian, who defeated Rafael Nadal en route to the last four in Brisbane, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Frances Tiafoe is out, however, the American 17th seed falling 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic.

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