- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
Djokovic defeat leaves era of golden generation at crossroads
For the first time in 22 years, the year's Grand Slam roll of honour will not feature any of the "Big Three" after Novak Djokovic suffered his earliest US Open exit since 2006.
The 24-time major winner's stunning third round loss to Alexei Popyrin left the Serbian star facing a season without a Slam title for the first time in seven years.
"I played some of the worst tennis I have ever played," admitted a crestfallen Djokovic after his title defence in New York came to an abrupt end at the hands of his 28th-ranked opponent.
It also sparked questions over the 37-year-old's long-term future in the sport and the endgame for tennis's golden generation of the retired Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.
When Federer captured the 2003 Wimbledon title, it was the first of 66 Slams won by the "Big Three" out of the 84 played up to this year's Wimbledon.
Federer retired in 2022 with 20 majors.
Nadal, now 38 years old, has 22 Slams, the most recent of which came in 2022 when he swept to a 14th French Open.
A succession of injuries limited the Spanish star to just four matches in 2023, when he won just once, and 19 this year with 12 victories.
He was defeated in the first round at Roland Garros for the first time in his career this season before skipping Wimbledon.
Nadal hasn't played a singles match since losing to Djokovic in the second round of the Olympics.
He is scheduled to return at the Laver Cup in Berlin next month and with his ranking having slumped to 154 in the world, there will be inevitable speculation that he will follow Federer's example and use that event to bow out.
Djokovic, 37, holds a men's record 24 Grand Slams but remains frustratingly short of breaking the all-time tie he shares with Australia's Margaret Court.
- 'Draw the line' -
If he were to achieve that goal at the Australian Open in January next year he would be the oldest Grand Slam champion of the modern era.
"I have to draw the line," said Djokovic. "You're just angry and upset that you lost and the way you played and that's it.
"But, you know, tomorrow is a new day, and I will obviously think about what to do next."
Djokovic's rollercoaster year has seen him lose his Australian Open title to Jannik Sinner who also ended his stay as world number one, a lofty status he had enjoyed for a combined 428 weeks.
Carlos Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, succeeded him as French Open champion after Djokovic withdrew from his scheduled quarter-final with a knee injury which required surgery.
Alcaraz then blew the Serb off court to defend his Wimbledon crown.
Djokovic quickly avenged that loss by claiming Olympic gold in Paris which he described as his "greatest achievement".
The issue for Djokovic, who turns 38 next May, is that his aura of invincibility has crumbled.
Popyrin was so unsurprised by his victory on Friday that he described his recent Montreal Masters triumph as being "way bigger" than defeating a player widely regarded as the greatest of all time.
For Djokovic there is a crumb of comfort in knowing that at the end of a long season, the US Open often throws up surprise winners.
Since 2000, there have been 14 different men's champions at the tournament while no man has won the title back-to-back since Federer claimed his fifth straight US Open in 2008.
Djokovic and 2022 champion Alcaraz, who was knocked out in the second round this week, appeared drained from their emotional Olympics experience.
Both admitted that their preparations for New York could have been better, a factor not lost on his rivals.
"If I did what he did after a gold medal, I'm just staying in Serbia, chilling, drinking like crazy," said US star Frances Tiafoe.
"That's why he is who he is, right? I really like that dude. Yeah, man, 37, want to come back out here? That's insanity, but hey, man, to each his own."
C.Garcia--AMWN