uh congratulations to him and his team uh he definitely played better and deserved to win today I mean uh on my end honestly the way I felt and the way I played uh from the beginning of this tournament third round is a success I mean I've played some of the worst tennis I've ever played honestly serving by far the worst ever so yeah if you play on a quick surface like this without uh you know without the serve without ability to win free points there uh very low first Ser percentage many double Falls then you know you can't win I mean you can't you can't win especially uh against the the guys who are in formed like Alex say who serving big puts a lot of pressure on your service game so yeah it was just an awful match for me I know that um you mentioned a success just getting to the third round G where your given where your level is if we go back a few weeks given where your level was on that Sunday afternoon which is maybe one of the best matches you've ever played can you talk us through from there to here and was it just too much to I don't know I don't know maybe maybe but I mean it's a different surface uh I mean obviously it had an effect I mean I spent a lot of energy winning the gold and uh I did arrive to New York you know just not feeling not feeling fresh mentally and physically but because it's US Open you know I G gave it a shot and I try to you know tried my best I mean I didn't have any physical issues I just felt out of gas you know and you could see that uh with the way I played just from the very beginning from the first match I just didn't find myself at all on this court and uh it's all I can say you know uh you know life moves on I mean uh yeah it's just uh trying to uh recalibrate and look for what's next Howard did you try to change anything up was there anything you were able to attempt to do to slow him down or try I mean I tried so many things and you know uh sometimes that's an issue you know is that you you move away from the basics that that work and then you just lose the basics you lose the foundation you lose the movement the timing the Rhythm the Tempo everything you know whether it's a serve or any other shot it was just uh really a big struggle mentally for me to play these three matches here uh because I wasn't I wasn't playing even close to my best so I just you know it's it's not it's not good to be you know in that kind of state where you you know you feel okay physically and of course you're you're motivated because it's a grand slam but you're just not able to find your game and that's it you know your game is falling apart and guess you have to accept that you know uh tournaments like this happen and um yeah you could argue that it's because of the Olympics but you know I don't know I don't want to analyze that right now you know I was just looking to really improve my game here on a daily basis but it just didn't it didn't happen want to tr wait wait wait wait we're transitioning to Ser it's okay one yeah okay thank you um is Alexi poin like a real deal here like can he contend for the title or maybe not quite there already yet I don't know what to make of that question I mean look he's uh just beaten me the defending Champion here so I mean he deserves a credit for that and respect um you know if he serves well plays well he can beat anybody I mean look alarz is out I'm out um you know some some big upsets uh the draw is opening up obviously C is the main favorite but then you know tifo is there as well as as a American you know favorite Fritz you know verev you have you have great guys you know playing well rublev dimitro in this part of the draw anybody can take it uh it's going to be interesting to see who takes the title in the end nov you said that tournaments like this happen but they don't happen to you what sense of appreciation do you have as you think about all the tournaments that you've gone way past this over all these years yeah I mean obviously fresh off the court you have a bitter taste in your mouth and you don't like losing um even though I've you know I had so many more wins than losses uh on this tournament and really any other so I have to draw the line and see things from a larger perspective of course I have to be content but it's hard to see the big perspective right now you know it's it's 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 uh I'll obviously think about what to do next