Carlos Alcaraz? Overtaken. Novak Djokovic? Out. Coco Gauff? Done.
Three of the world’s best tennis players, two who were the tournament champions last September, were ousted from this year’s U.S. Open before reaching the final week at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz, seeded No. 3, who already has won four singles majors, including the U.S. Open two years ago, was the first to exit. He was vying to win his third straight Grand Slam and was taken down last Thursday in the second round by unseeded Bortic Van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
The 37-year-old Djokovic, the No. 2 seed and arguably the greatest men’s player ever, with a record men’s singles 24 Grand Slams, one being the 2023 U.S. Open, fell a day later in the third round to No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6. 6-4. The losses of Alcaraz and Djokovic were just the third time, with 1973 and 2000 being the other years, in the Open era that two of the top three men’s seeds were eliminated before the fourth round.
The women’s No. 3 seed Gauff, just 20, who won her first Grand Slam 12 months ago at the U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium, dropped her match on Sunday to No. 13 Emma Navarro in the fourth round 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Gauff double-faulted 19 times for numerous self-inflicted mistakes.
“Too many points on my serve,” she said. “Mentally and emotionally I gave it my all … I think if I could have served better, it would have been a different story for me in the match.”
As for the man known as Joker, he readily acknowledged his surprisingly shaky showing. “I have played some of the worst tennis I’ve ever played, honestly,” said Djokovic. “It was just an awful match for me.”
Naomi Osaka returned to the U.S. Open after taking time off from tennis last year to give birth to her daughter Shai in July 2023. Osaka, 26, a four-time Grand Slam champion, won the U.S. Open singles titles in 2018 and 2020. She received a wild card to enter this year’s Open and took her first match against French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in the first round before bowing out to Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-6 in the second round.
“I think, during the pressure moments, I got nervous and I don’t know if I just have to keep playing more matches and get used to that feeling, especially on a really big stage,” said Osaka. American Kim Pegula, the No. 6 seed, played in her seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal last night as she faced the No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek. The 30-year-old Pegula was still searching for her first major victory title.
On the men’s side, American Frances Tiafoe, seeded No. 20, took on No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov in their quarterfinal match on Tuesday. It was the 26-year-old Tiafoe’s third straight appearance in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Tiafoe joined Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Pete Sampras as the only American men to reach three U.S. Open quarterfinals this century.
The women’s singles final will be played Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern time) while the men’s championship will take place Sunday (2 p.m.).