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Olympic exhaustion played a role in early US Open exit, says Djokovic

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NEW YORK : Novak Djokovic said the pursuit of Olympic gold left him without much in the tank for his U.S. Open title defence, as he crashed out of the Grand Slam in a shock third-round defeat to Australian Alexei Popyrin on Friday.

The Serb closed out his trophy case with the Olympic title weeks ago in what he described as the biggest achievement of his career, beating young rival Carlos Alcaraz in the Paris finale.But from that highest of highs came a crushing low in New York as Djokovic suffered his earliest exit from the year's final major since 2006.

He will finish the season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2017."I spent a lot of energy winning the gold and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh," he said. "I didn't have any physical issues.

I just felt out of gas, you know, and you could see that with the way I played."There were signs of trouble almost immediately when he began his campaign for a record 25th major title.

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