Sinner, more stars react to Alcaraz Djokovic shockers

pOn back-to-back days a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a suffered stunning defeats at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a, sending shockwaves through the tennis world./p

pThe players remaining in the draw, headlined by a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a, were quick to credit their opponents and point out that losses are part of the sport./p

pldquo;It shows that this sport is unpredictable. Whenever you drop a little bit of your level, if it's mental, if it's tennis-wise or physical, at the end it has a huge impact on the result. Both opponents who they lost against, they played some incredible tennis. And it happens,rdquo; Sinner said. ldquo;So I just watch on my side what I have to do, that I guess I have done also in last period of time, and then we will see what I can do.rdquo;/p

pOne player who was directly impacted by one of the upsets was 25th seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a. The Briton was in the same section of the draw as Alcaraz. But instead, the lefty faced the Spaniardrsquo;s conqueror, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/botic-van-de-zandschulp/v812/overview'Botic van de Zandschulp/a./p

pldquo;I think both of them, [Carlos and Novak], obviously played the Olympic final. I think that's taken a lot out of them. It's taken a lot out of everyone, but they obviously made the finals, and it was emotional for both of them,rdquo; Draper said. ldquo;Obviously Novak, that was probably his biggest goal, and to come through that is obviously emotionally challenging to sort of have a rest and then come here./p

pldquo;Same with Carlos as well. He's achieved so much this year winning the French, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a. I'm not surprised that they're probably feeling really tired and emotionally a bit drained. But I watched both the matches, and I thought Botic played an incredibly high level of tennis against Alcaraz.rdquo;/p

p/p

pDraper took advantage, defeating van de Zandschulp in straight sets Saturday to reach the fourth round. While preparing for his own match, he saw the first two sets of a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexei-popyrin/p09z/overview'Alexei Popyrin/arsquo;s stunner over Djokovic./p

pldquo;I didn't honestly feel like Djokovic was playing incredibly badly. Maybe his serve was a bit below par, but I felt like Popyrin played an incredible match as well,rdquo; Draper said. ldquo;There are a lot of players on the tour at the moment who are really dangerous and on their day can play an amazing match against the best players in the world.rdquo;/p

pHome favourite a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a joked he was hoping the Popyrin-Djokovic match would end earlier./p

pldquo;I wanted to go to sleep. Today was the first day I used an alarm clock the whole tournament,rdquo; Paul said, cracking a laugh. ldquo;I think the guys that played Alcaraz and Novak both stepped up and played awesome. But, yeah, 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. It's a tough turnaround. We never go from grass to clay to hard so quickly./p

pldquo;But I don't want to take anything away from those guys. They earned those wins and they played awesome tennis. I'm happy for them. And Carlos and Novak have won quite a few tournaments, so I don't feel too bad, I guess.rdquo;/p

[ATP APP]

pAustralian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jordan-thompson/tc61/overview'Jordan Thompson/a, who also made the fourth round on Saturday, does not watch a tonne of tennis in general. /p

pldquo;But Irsquo;ve been glued to it recently. Last night when I wasnrsquo;t at dinner I was watching Pop [a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexei-popyrin/p09z/overview'Alexei Popyrin/a] play,rdquo; Thompson said. ldquo;He was playing the greatest of all time and took him time. Wersquo;ve got Davis Cup around the corner, so the corner couldnrsquo;t be better. If I do watch someone, itrsquo;ll be someone that I like or another Aussie.rdquo;/p

pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nuno-borges/bt72/overview'Nuno Borges/a, who advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time, caught short bits of each upset./p

pldquo;I thought they played great. Talking about Popyrin first, I know hersquo;s been on a big confidence moment and hersquo;s always been a very dangerous player to be honest. Maybe it didnrsquo;t feel like he was that close, but Irsquo;m sure he washellip; closer than people think. When his big serve is going, therersquo;s not really much you can do sometimes,rdquo; Borges said. ldquo;It doesnrsquo;t surprise me. Novak can have an average day and then a few more mistakes than usual and all of a sudden hersquo;s two sets down and anything can happen. /p

pldquo;Carlos, I think hersquo;s paying a little bit the price of such a heavy summer too. Hersquo;s won so much and Irsquo;m sure he gave it all in the Olympic Games. Maybe he still hasnrsquo;t been able to fully recover mentally. Thatrsquo;s tennis. Wersquo;re expecting always so much from him, but you look back and hersquo;;s still done some very, very good results.rdquo;/p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p