Defending champion Novak Djokovic dropped out of the knockout round at the US Open. The Wimbledon winner from Serbia gave in the new edition of the final of 2016 against the Swiss Stan Wawrinka at the level of 4: 6, 5: 7, 1: 2 on.
"Yes, it was the left shoulder," said the world ranking first to the reason of his task: "It's frustrating, very frustrating." Even after his opening victory in New York, the 16-time Grand Slam winner had complained of pain in his shoulder. These had already been "for weeks" Djokovic now said.
"That's the kind of game you never want to end," Wawrinka said after the game. In the final three years ago, he had won against Djokovic and brought his third Grand Slam title. In the quarter-finals, he meets the Russian Daniil Medvedev, who had defeated the German qualifier Dominik Koepfer in the second round.
Djokovic had left the court in the Arthur Ashe Stadium under whistles of the audience immediately after his task. "I'm sorry for the audience," said the 32-year-old. Already during the game he had been treated by the physiotherapist on his left shoulder.
In the previous five Grand Slam tournaments Djokovic had won four titles, most recently in July in the Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. Last time, Djokovic had failed on a major level at the Australian Open in 2018 in the round of the top 16, then he had to give the South Korean Hyeon Chung beaten.