Novak Djokovic made abundantly clear his disappointment with his level after a stunning third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin at the US Open.
“Honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success. I mean, I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly, serving by far the worst ever,” Djokovic said.
The Serbian hit a stunning 32 double faults in his three matches at Flushing Meadows, including 14 against Popyrin (his record high for a Slam match). The 24-time major champion dropped serve five times against the Australian.
“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,” Djokovic said. “You can’t win, especially against the guys who are in form like Alexei. Yeah, it was just an awful match for me.”
