There was a time in men’s tennis when the defeat of a favourite, the top seed or the defending champion in the first week of a Grand Slam tournament was less of a shock and more awe. But over the last two decades, wherein Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been the hegemonic forces, such bursts of surprise have been few and rare. Seen in this context, the exits of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic — against Botic van de Zandschulp and Alexei Popyrin, respectively — in a 24-hour span from the ongoing US Open appear seismic. Alcaraz is the World No.3, a four-time Major champion and a bona fide title-contender wherever he plays. Djokovic is the World No.2, the defending champion and winner of a men’s record 24 Slams. The reverses could well be attributed to the draining summers, physically and emotionally, Alcaraz and Djokovic experienced. The 21-year-old Spaniard won the French Open-Wimbledon double — among the hardest feats in all sport — and fought Djokovic tooth and nail in the Paris Olympics final before settling for the silver medal. Djokovic underwent a knee surgery in early June but made the Wimbledon final in less than six weeks after that before clinching the elusive singles gold medal in Paris, the one prize that was missing from his glittering cabinet.
In a larger sense, however, it is Djokovic’s third-round loss that can upend world tennis. Not since the 2017 Australian Open, when he lost in the second round to Denis Istomin, has the Serb gone out of a Major this early. It also means 2024 will join 2017 as the only two seasons since 2010 that have not seen him lift a Major. The failure is a telltale sign that Djokovic, at 37, will no longer be at the top of the totem pole. In fact, 2024 will be the first since 2002 without a Slam winner from among Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. World No.1 Jannik Sinner now has a golden opportunity to firmly establish the new order by adding the US Open to his 2024 Australian Open crown. The Italian entered New York under a cloud, with the revelation that despite testing positive for a prohibited substance twice in March, he was cleared of any wrongdoing. The 23-year-old wobbled in the first round but has since looked serene. Sinner is drawn to meet the 2021 titlist Daniil Medvedev in the last eight, a tough nut to crack despite having beaten the Russian the last five times on hard courts. But as the legendary Billie Jean King once said, “pressure is a privilege, and champions adjust”.
