Djokovic falls to fearless Popyrin, Sinner advances

Novak Djokovic’s latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title crashed to a halt as 28th-ranked Alexei Popyrin knocked the defending champion out of the US Open third round.
One day after third seed Carlos Alcaraz slumped to a shock defeat against 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, 25-year-old Popyrin robbed the tournament of another superstar with a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory.
Also on Saturday, world number one and Australian Open champion Sinner crushed 87th-ranked Christopher O’Connell of Australia in straight sets for a place in the last-16 of the tournament.
Sinner, 23, on Saturday won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour and 53 minutes. The Italian fired 15 aces in his resounding win.
Sinner is the only men’s top-three seed to make it into the second week after shock defeats for Djokovic and Alcaraz, and he did it in efficient style.
“Today was a great match,” he said on Saturday. “I felt like today the serve was working very very well.”
Sinner also made a point of thanking the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd for their support
Popyrin handed Djokovic his earliest US Open exit in 18 years and his earliest Grand Slam exit since he fell in the second round of the Australian Open in 2017 - which was also the last year the Serbian great failed to claim a single Grand Slam title.
Although he won the Olympic gold he had long coveted at the Paris Games, an uneven season that included knee surgery saw Djokovic come up empty in the majors. He had beaten Popyrin in three prior encounters, including at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. But a career-high 14 double faults - 49 unforced errors total - were too much for Djokovic to overcome.
“It was just an awful match for me,” Djokovic said. “I mean, I tried so many things, and sometimes that’s an issue...you move away from the basics that work. You lose the foundation. You lose the movement, the timing, the rhythm, the tempo, everything, whether it’s a serve or any other shot.”
Popyrin, coming off the biggest title of his career at the Montreal Masters, saved five break points in the sixth game of the match, swinging fearlessly to seize the first two sets.
Djokovic gave himself some breathing room with an early break in the third. Popyrin clawed back only for Djokovic to break him twice more, the Serbian taking full advantage of Popyrin’s mounting errors. But the Aussie responded in a tense fourth set, saving break points in the second game before breaking again for a 3-2 lead.
He stayed patient as Djokovic saved three break points and when the Serbian double faulted to gift him another Popyrin capitalized with a blistering forehand winner and let out a massive roar. Djokovic delivered four double faults in dropping his serve to trail 5-2. He won the next two games, but Popyrin claimed the match with a love game.
“I was waiting for him to kind of step up,” Popyrin said. “I didn’t want to be one of those moments where Novak kind of stepped up and came back from two sets to love down. It was kind of extra motivation for me not to do that and to win that fourth set.”
Popyrin will next face Frances Tiafoe, who beat fellow American Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 in a pulsating afternoon contest on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Tiafoe avenged a quarter-final loss to Shelton in New York last year, withstanding 23 aces.
Late show for SabalenkaAll the drama on Ashe Stadium meant second-seeded Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka didn’t get underway on the cavernous court that seats nearly 24,000 until eight minutes past midnight - the latest start to a match in US Open history by eight minutes.
She took it in stride, and after a slow start wrapped up a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova at 1:48am.
Men’s fourth seed Alexander Zverev started earlier but laboured later on Louis Armstrong Stadium, where he beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 in a match that ended at 2:35am - the second latest US Open finish ever.
World number six Andrey Rublev of Russia beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 and eighth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud rallied from two sets down to beat 19-year-old Shang Juncheng of China 6-7 (1/7), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.
Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen of China, who rallied from a set down in each of her first two matches, dispatched Germany’s Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-1.
Pegula beats Bouzas ManeiroJessica Pegula’s strong serving and smothering defence led to a textbook 6-3 6-3 win over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded American, who struggled with injuries earlier in the year, produced her best form of the tournament so far on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.