"I spent a lot of energy on winning the gold" - Novak Djokovic divulges not feeling "fresh" in New York during US Open 3R exit press conference

Novak Djokovic admitted to expending all his energy on winning the elusive gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics after his shocking third-round defeat to Alexei Popyrin at the US Open. The in-form Aussie stunned the 24-time Major champion 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in three hours and 18 minutes.

Coming into Flushing Meadows, the Serb had clinched the gold medal at the Olympics after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in a brutal two-setter. Meanwhile, Popyrin was riding high on confidence after clinching the maiden Masters 1000 of his career at the Canadian Open.

The 37-year-old boasted a 3-0 lead in their previous meetings and had defeated the Aussie twice at Majors this year, however, Popyrin finally got his revenge to oust the defending champion and reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

During his post-match press conference, Djokovic admitted feeling fatigued after his Olympics campaign and wasn't feeling 'fresh' coming into New York. However, he wanted to give his best shot at the US Open but admitted to being out of gas since the opening round.

"I don't know, maybe, but it was a different surface. Obviously it had an effect, I mean I spent a lot of energy winning the gold and arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically."

"But because it's US Open, I gave it a shot and tried my best. I didn't have any physical issues, I just felt out of gas. You could see that with the way I played just from the first match, I didn't find myself at all on this court and it’s all I can say, life moves on."

He said that he would look to move from this defeat and look ahead.

"It's just trying to recalibrate and look for what's next," he said. (at 1:25)

Alexei Popyrin will play 20th seed Frances Tiafoe next.

"I wasn’t even playing close to my best" - Novak Djokovic admits to mentally struggling and his game falling apart at the 2024 US Open

Djokovic (Image Source: Getty)

Novak Djokovic also explained that he tried to execute a lot of different plans during the match, causing him to move away from the basics and in turn, resulting in his game falling apart. He admitted that he wasn't close to his best level and struggled mentally, which he said was not a good state to be in because he was physically feeling okay and was motivated to win his 25th Grand Slam.

"I tried so many things. Sometimes that's an issue, is that you move away from the basics that work and then you just lose the basics, lose the foundation, you lose the movement, the timing, the rhythm, the tempo, everything."

"Whether it's a serve or any other shot, it was just really a big struggle mentally for me to play these three matches here. Because I wasn’t even playing close to my best. It's not good to be in that kind of state where you feel okay physically and of course, you're motivated because it's a Grand Slam."

The Serb said that bad tournaments were a part and parcel of the sport and one could argue that his poor form was due to the Olympics. However, he didn't want to analyze his matches right after the defeat.

"But you're just not able to find your game and that's it. Your game is falling apart and guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen and you could argue that it's because of the Olympics but I don't want to analyze that right now. I was just looking to improve my game here on a daily basis but it just didn't happen," Djokovic said.

With Djokovic's elimination, it is now confirmed that 2024 will be the first year since 2002, that no member of the Big 3 — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and the Serb will win a Grand Slam.