Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s early exits have blown the US Open draw wide open.
Tommy Paul doesn’t think he has benefitted from Djokovic and Alcaraz’s losses (Image: Getty)
Tommy Paul has admitted that he doesn’t “feel bad” for Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz following their shock early exits from the US Open.
While the American’s rivals are benefitting from their surprise losses, Paul explained that it doesn’t give him an easier opportunity to go deep into the tournament as he faces world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in his next match.
Djokovic and Alcaraz were dumped out of the US Open less than 24 hours apart. The Spaniard lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in round two on Thursday evening before Djokovic suffered a third-round defeat at the hands of 28th seed Alexei Popyrin.
Their rivals have been left stunned, with Sinner saying that it shows how “unpredictable” the sport is while British No. 1 Jack Draper speculated whether both men were exhausted from the Olympics. Djokovic and Alcaraz faced off in the final, with the Serb winning the gold medal while the 21-year-old came away with silver.
Paul also took home a medal, winning bronze in men’s doubles with Taylor Fritz. And he joked that he didn’t have sympathy for Djokovic and Alcaraz after sharing the post-Olympics fatigue. “I did watch the matches,” he started.
“Last night I was kind of hoping that it would end a little earlier, because I wanted to go to sleep. Today was the first day I used an alarm clock the whole tournament. Yeah, I mean, like I said earlier, I think the guys that played Alcaraz and Novak both stepped up and played awesome.”
Luckily for Paul, he was only affected by the quick turnaround during the Masters 1000 events in Canada and Cincinnati but recovered in time for the US Open. He continued: “But, yeah, I mean, I feel like I had the Olympic fatigue, I guess at the right time, in Canada and Cincy, but now I’m feeling pretty good. I had a nice little reset. Yeah, it’s a tough turnaround. Like, we never go from grass to clay to hard so quickly.
“But I don’t want to take anything away from those guys. I mean, they earned those wins and they played awesome tennis. I’m happy for them. And, you know, Carlos and Novak have won quite a few tournaments, so I don’t feel too bad, I guess.”
Djokovic and Alcaraz’s early exits have blown the draw wide open, with world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev the last former champion left in the men’s singles event. There is already guaranteed to be a first-time semi-finalist in what was Alcaraz’s section of the draw.
But Paul has fallen in the same quarter as top seed Sinner and doesn’t think he’ll benefit from their defeats. “Well, I mean, I play the No. 1 in the world tomorrow, so I don’t know if I’m thinking, like, ‘opportunity’ too much,” he explained.
But it’s definitely an opportunity to play on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the next round, so I’m looking forward to that. Yeah, we’ve all watched, or at least I watched the last two night sessions. I mean, those guys stepped up and played awesome tennis. Different parts of the draws have opened up, but mine has not. I have a tough match ahead of me, but I’m excited for it.”