World number two Novak Djokovic recently reflected on his third-round setback at the US Open, a match that ended in defeat against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin. In candid terms, Djokovic described his performance as a total misfire, attributing the loss to a combination of misreads, service struggles, and a day when nothing seemed to click with the racket. The tone of his assessment carried the weight of a veteran evaluating a rare off day rather than a fleeting bad stretch. He stressed that accuracy and rhythm with the serve were the critical factors, noting that with the ball bouncing as it did on the court, the simplest way to create advantage is through reliable serving. The postmatch analysis highlighted a sequence where hope briefly flickered but ultimately dissolved under pressure. The outcome was a 3-sets-to-2 affair, with Djokovic dropping the opening two sets before mounting a comeback attempt that fell just short of victory. The final tally reads 4:6, 4:6, 6:2, 4:6, a scoreline that spoke to the volatility of a contest played over more than three hours and the crushing demands of high-stakes Grand Slam tennis.
