Sinner, more stars react to Alcaraz, Djokovic shocks

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic suffered crushing defeats two days in a row at the US Open, sending shockwaves through the tennis world.

The remaining players, led by Jannik Sinner, were quick to compliment their opponents and point out that losing is part of the sport.

“It shows that this sport is unpredictable. When you drop a little bit from your level, whether it’s mentally, whether it’s tennis-wise or physically, it has a huge impact on the outcome in the end. Both opponents they lost to played incredible tennis. And that happens,” Sinner said. “So I just look at what I have to do, what I think I did in the last period, and then we’ll see what I can do.”

One player who was directly affected by one of the upsets was 25th-seeded Jack Draper. The Briton was in the same section of the draw as Alcaraz. But instead, the left-hander faced the Spaniard’s conqueror, Botic van de Zandschulp.

“I think they both (Carlos and Novak) obviously played the Olympic final. I think that took a lot out of them. It took a lot out of everybody, but they obviously made it to the final and it was emotional for both of them,” Draper said. “Obviously for Novak, that was probably his biggest goal, and to get through that is obviously emotionally challenging to have a little bit of a break and then come here.

“The same goes for Carlos. He’s achieved so much this year, winning the French Wimbledon. I’m not surprised that they’re probably feeling very tired and a bit emotionally drained. But I watched both matches and I thought Botic played an incredibly high level of tennis against Alcaraz.”

Draper took advantage and defeated van de Zandschulp in straight sets on Saturday to reach the fourth round. While preparing for his own match, he watched the first two sets of Alexei Popyrin’s stunning victory over Djokovic.

“I didn’t really feel like Djokovic played unbelievably bad. Maybe his serve was a little bit off, but I thought Popyrin played an unbelievable match as well,” Draper said. “There are a lot of players on tour right now who are really dangerous and on their day can play a great match against the best players in the world.”

Favourite Tommy Paul joked that he hoped the Popyrin-Djokovic match would be over sooner.

“I wanted to go to sleep. Today was the first day I used an alarm clock the entire tournament,” Paul said with a laugh. “I think the guys that played against Alcaraz and Novak both tried their best and played great. But yeah, I feel like I had the Olympic fatigue, I think at the right time, in Canada and Cincy, but now I feel pretty good. I’ve had a nice little reset. It’s a tough transition. We never go from grass to clay to hard that quickly.

“But I don’t want to take anything away from those guys. They’ve had those wins and they’ve played some great tennis. I’m happy for them. And Carlos and Novak have won quite a few tournaments, so I don’t feel too bad, I guess.”

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Australian Jordan Thompson, who also reached the fourth round on Saturday, generally doesn’t watch that much tennis.

“But I’ve been glued to it lately. Last night, when I wasn’t at dinner, I was watching Pop (Alexei Popyrin) play,” Thompson said. “He was playing the best of all time and he took his time. We’ve got the Davis Cup around the corner, so the angle couldn’t be better. If I’m watching someone, it’s someone I like or another Aussie.”

Nuno Borges, who reached the last 16 for the first time, saw brief snippets of every surprise.

“I thought they played great. If we talk about Popyrin first, I know he’s had a lot of confidence and he’s always been a very dangerous player, to be honest. Maybe it didn’t feel like he was that close, but I’m sure he was… closer than people think. When he has a great serve, sometimes there’s not much you can do,” Borges said. “It doesn’t surprise me. Novak can have an average day and then make a few more mistakes than normal and then suddenly he’s two sets down and anything can happen.

“Carlos, I think he’s also paying a bit of a price for such a tough summer. He’s won so much and I’m sure he gave it his all at the Olympics. Maybe he hasn’t fully recovered mentally yet. That’s tennis. We always expect so much from him, but when you look back, he’s still had some really, really good results.”

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