NEW DELHI: One night after tournament favourite Carlos Alcaraz made his earliest Grand Slam exit in three years after shock defeat to unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, defending champion Novak Djokovic bowed out in the US Open third round with a 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 loss to 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia on Friday night.
The second-seeded Djokovic was attempting to make tennis history by being the first player to win 25 Grand Slam singles titles. Rather, for the first time since 2017, he ends a year without winning at least one major championship following knee surgery in June. It hadn't occurred since 2010 before then.
