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From Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport at Flushing Meadows
After stopping as defeat in an match because of harm against 23rd seed Stan Wawrinka, defending champion Novak Djokovic is.
Djokovic retired with a shoulder issue seconds after a fault left him two spots and a break down.
Loud boos greeted the Serb’s decision, with much more as he walked off court, heard.
“I am sorry for the audience. They came to find a complete game but it was not to be,” said world number one Djokovic.
When Djokovic decided he could not continue, three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka had mastered the contest in a boisterous setting producing a display reminiscent of his very best to direct 6-4 7-5 2-0.
34, wawrinka, will play fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic has been the hot favourite to retain his title in Flushing Meadows and win a 17th Grand Slam, that will move him closer to Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (18) in the race to become deemed the greatest men’s player of all time.
However he had been hampered through the championship with a left shoulder injury, which he says has left him “constant pain for a couple weeks”.
Djokovic struggled on Wednesday during his second-round game against Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero, until coming through in straight sets requiring treatment that was intense three times.
Before his game against American Denis Kudla, there was speculation he might withdraw because of the problem to show signs of this issue at an intimate win on Friday.
However, Djokovic reported the degree of the pain.
“it’s quite frustrating. Obviously it hurts I needed to retire,” explained the Serb.
“A few days the pain has become greater, some days with less intensity. Clearly I took things that was different to kill the pain. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.
“You just know when you realize, when you really feel as if you’re not able to hit the shot any longer.”
The Serb didn’t want to talk about the crowd’s reaction to his departure, although Wawrinka said negativity surprised him.
“He is an remarkable champion,” added the Swiss. “If he’s got to retire, it’s not the very best for a tennis player to have to leave the courtroom like that.”
Djokovic indicated he hopes to recover fitness to the months of this season and the ATP Tour’s Asia leg.
“It’s no secret that I have desire and a goal to reach the most Grand Slams, and reach Roger’s album,” he further added.
“At the exact same time, it is a very long road ahead hopefully for me. I hope that I can play for a lot years. I am likely to. I really don’t see a finish behind the corner in any respect.”
Djokovic’s withdrawal failed to take the glow from Wawrinka, who earned his biggest victory since beating then world number one, Britain’s Andy Murray, in the 2017 Open semi-finals.
Shortly after this run, Wawrinka’s career stalled.
It has been a slow climb back up the rankings for the world number three, but proved he can still cause problems for the best – whatever their state – in a screen that is highly effective.
Wawrinka came out shooting from the beginning, piercing Djokovic’s famed defence with blistering groundstrokes as he broke for 3-2 and producing thumping aces to stave off a break point within the next game on his way to clinching the opener.
Wawrinka had beaten Djokovic three times at a Grand Slam – like their final meeting in the 2016 final at Flushing Meadows – with dropped the opening set in every one of these.
This proved different, despite Djokovic coming from fighting by then breaking to gain an early edge, holding to appreciate in the very first game of the next set.
Wawrinka, backed by a vociferous New York crowd, was shortly level after breaking in a critical seventh match in which Djokovic coughed two double defects working for a 5-2 lead, and the Swiss landed a gorgeous one-handed backhand down the line that left a few fans climbing to their feet in regard.
Djokovic started to look rattled from the accident and the atmosphere, finding bad shots as he attempted to respond, letting the chance to serve out for a benefit and Wawrinka the other break.
Treatment at the changeover was a last-ditch effort by Djokovic to improve his bodily – and mental – state, but it didn’t prove effective and he quit a few minutes.
“I’m sorry he had to retire to finish the match like that, but like me, most important is how I am playing, how I’m moving,” Wawrinka said.
“The greater the match was moving, the better I had been playing. I was hitting the ball. I was feeling good on court”
BBC tennis correspondent, russell Fuller
Wawrinka had been in form. He reminding us of this man who, before knee surgery, had won three Grand Slam titles and pummeled the ball.
Djokovic was, however, very dimmed. He appeared to be celebrating events, rather than influencing them.
He knows if he could have completed the game, but to leave the court turned into a harsh send-off for a 16-time Grand Slam champion.
The chances on Federer and Nadal will shorten further. But maybe we need to look to get a possible winner outside the top three.
Wawrinka might be 34, but he can be exceedingly difficult to stop, if he reaches the next week of a Grand Slam in this sort of mood.
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