Mumbai: The last time an entire year went without any of the Grand Slams having the names of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic engraved in it, Aussie Lleyton Hewitt was the Wimbledon champion.
When the atypical Big Three lull arrived next, Hewitt, now Australia’s 43-year-old Davis Cup captain, sat in the courtside box guiding countryman Alexei Popyrin, who hammered the final blow on Djokovic with a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 third-round victory at the US Open late on Friday.
It’s been that long – 22 years of men’s tennis and its most prestigious stages and prizes being almost synonymous with these three titans of the sport.
All good things do come to an end. And this was, for each year over since 2002, so great that it redefined legacies and rewrote records with staggering consistency. Federer got it going with his 2003 Wimbledon title, and in the next four years pocketed each of the Wimbledon and US Open titles along his way to 20 majors. At one point, that seemed untouchable.
Only until Nadal got going; at the French Open especially as the 14-time champion but also otherwise — in 2010, for instance, he captured three of the four Slams — in raking up 22 majors. And until Djokovic caught up and coasted ahead, the slow starter having taken rapid strides over the last decade towards his record of 24.
With Federer, 43, retired and the injury-hampered Nadal, 38, barely competing over the last couple of seasons, it was again left for Djokovic to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the elusive club this year. Except, this time the young challengers sought their share of the pie. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz split the season’s first three Slams as Djokovic struggled to find his peak form and battled a mid-Slam injury.
And the season-ending Slam showed that at 37, age can, after all, catch up with the seemingly timeless machine too. That Djokovic, after all, is human too.
Carrying all the weight of the emotional singles gold at the Paris Olympics that the Serb sought as much as any of his Slam success, Djokovic crumbled in New York for his earliest Slam defeat since the 2017 Australian Open. Out of steam and down for that typical Djoker-like show of grit, the defending champion fizzled out playing “some of the worst tennis I have ever played” in the third round in New York.
It had something to do with playing some of his best tennis in Paris less than three weeks back.
“I spent a lot of energy winning the (Olympics) gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic said. “But because it’s the US Open, I gave it a shot. I mean, 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, I just didn’t find myself at all on this court.”
Djokovic did find himself in a similar situation three years ago when he arrived at the US Open running on reserve after winning the season’s first three Slams while falling short of a medal at the Tokyo Games. That year, he still made it to the final, going past the likes of big-serving Matteo Berrettini and Tokyo champion Alexander Zverev.
The difference from then and now not only lies in Djokovic’s added years, but also the younger generation’s added belief in overcoming the great man and his intimidating aura. Players in the recent past often turned up against him not believing they could do so.
Popyrin did, and with good reason. The 25-year-old Australian had made Djokovic earn a couple of four-set wins at this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon. At the US Open, he also had the ATP Masters title in Montreal earlier in the month to add to his belief. Djokovic was susceptible. Popyrin was on the surge. And he knew he could strike.
“So, when I did it, it kind of felt that (it) proved me right, proved what I was thinking was right,” the Aussie said. “It wasn’t something that was unbelievable.”
What was unbelievable under lights on Friday, and largely across Djokovic’s three rounds, was his level of serving. It was, as he put it, “by far the worst ever”. The Serb had a mediocre first serve percentage of 58, littered with 14 double faults — the most by him in a major. Popyrin was only slightly better with his serves but was brave in his play, especially on the big points. Djokovic remained bland for most of the night, much like through his week.
“Honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success,” Djokovic said.
This, from a man who has made at least the quarter-finals of every Slam since 2021. “Guess you have to accept that tournaments like these happen,” he said.
It’s also happened to Alcaraz, who crashed out 24 hours before Djokovic. A distracted top-ranked Jannik Sinner and an out-of-form former champion Daniil Medvedev still lurk, but this now is truly an open US Open.
“Anybody can take it,” Djokovic said.
When was the last time we could say that in this Big Three era?