Defending champion Novak Djokovic and 2022 winner Carlos Alcaraz both faced surprising early exits at the 2024 US Open. Tennis legend Jimmy Connors believes their absence has opened the door for other players, particularly the Americans, to seize the opportunity and win their Home Slam.
Carlos Alcaraz began his 2024 US Open campaign with a four-set victory over Li Tu. However, his journey was cut short when he was defeated 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 by unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.
Meanwhile, Djokovic registered two solid wins over Radu Albot and Laslo Djere (W/O), but Alexei Popyrin knocked him out in the third round with a score of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. This marks the first time since 2017 that the Serb will finish a season without winning a Grand Slam title.
Jimmy Connors and his son Brett discussed Djokovic and Alcaraz’s early exits during the latest episode of their ‘Advantage Connors’ podcast. The eight-time Major champion remarked that with the two top players out, the path is clear for Americans to make a strong push at the US Open.
“I mean, they are young, they are big, they are strong and before I would say they didn’t have quite healthy experience, but they do now to know what it is like to get into the second week of a Grand Slam. You can’t win the tournament in the first week but you can certainly lose it,” Jimmy said (at 28:55).
“Now, they made it into the second week. This is when you separate the top from the rest. With those four guys, [Novak] Djokovic is out, and Carlos [Alcaraz] is out, that opens up a whole lot of space for a lot of guys to come through. What an opportunity with those two guys out!” he added.