Novak Djokovic's Shocking First Round Exit at US Open
Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title ended in brutal, almost surreal fashion under the New York lights, as an ailing body finally betrayed one of tennis’ iron wills.
On a humid night at Flushing Meadows, the 39-year-old fell in the first round of the US Open to Argentina’s Mariano Navone, the world No 49, in a draining five-set battle: 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-1 after four hours and 36 minutes.
It was the longest opening match of his Grand Slam career. It was also his earliest exit at a major since the 2006 Australian Open. For a player who has made the second week of Slams feel like a birthright, this was a jarring, almost disorienting sight.
A legend unravels
Djokovic arrived in New York already under a cloud. Two weeks earlier in Cincinnati, he had ended his tournament on his knees, vomiting into a towel after losing to Thiago Tirante. He later spoke of a “health issue” he has carried for years, one that flares in heat and humidity.
Arthur Ashe Stadium was warm, sticky, but not the furnace of Cincinnati. Still, midway through the first set, his cheeks glowed red, his hair already soaked. He raced to a 3-0 lead, only to watch the set slip away in a tie-break. The warning signs were there. The body language was not of a man in control.
He had already pushed to have the roof closed. Air conditioning hummed above him. In the stands, his wife Jelena and their children watched on as he fought to keep a grip on the match and, perhaps, on something bigger: his place at the very top of the sport.
Then came the first visible crack. Djokovic vomited by the towel box late in the second set, yet somehow broke for 6-5 and served it out, levelling the match. It felt like classic Djokovic defiance. Sick, hurting, but still finding a way.
In the third, the pattern repeated. More sickness, more strain, yet he seized his single break opportunity and moved two sets to one ahead. On paper, this was familiar territory. He came into the night with a 42-12 record in five-setters. Navone, by contrast, was 0-4. The script, historically, belonged to Djokovic.
This time, the script burned.
The body gives way
At the start of the fourth set, Djokovic vomited again. He still broke for 2-1. For a moment, it looked as though muscle memory and competitive instinct might drag him over the line once more.
Then the collapse began.
After firing a shot wide in the fourth, he landed awkwardly, dropped his racket and almost surrendered the set in that moment. His movement shrank. His stride shortened. Cramp and pain crept in, then took over. The back “gave up”, the shoulder followed. The once-iron frame looked brittle.
Navone, 25 and in the form of his emerging career after claiming his first ATP singles title earlier this year, refused to fade. Sensing the shift, he surged. Djokovic, barely able to move, could no longer resist. The fourth set raced away. The fifth became a procession.
From 2-1 up in the fourth, Djokovic won just one more game. Navone ran through the final two sets 6-2 6-1, as the great champion laboured, misfired and ultimately unravelled. By the end, the numbers told their own story: 70 unforced errors from Djokovic in a performance that looked as painful as it was shocking.
Minutes before midnight, it was over. Not just the match, but something more intangible: the aura of inevitability that has long surrounded him at the majors.
“My whole body started to collapse”
Djokovic did not hide from the reality of what happened.
“I didn't enjoy myself,” he admitted. “I think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me.
“It's something that I've been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year. Vomiting, throwing up, a serious issue there. Then my whole body started to collapse, basically cramping and pain.
“The back just gave up in the end and shoulder, and I couldn't close it out.
“I was a break up in the fourth, but just struggled all the way since the fourth game of the match.
“I don't want to take too much out of his win. Congrats to him. He's a nice guy, a fighter. But I didn't enjoy myself.”
He will now drop out of the ATP top 10 for the first time in eight years. For a man who has built a career on stretching time, this ranking slide lands with a thud.
Navone’s moment on the biggest stage
Across the net, Navone lived the night of his life.
“It was very tough for me because you are playing with the ‘GOAT’ on this court,” he said, having grown up idolising Djokovic.
“For sure it's the best thing I've had on court. This is an amazing court and the biggest stage. It's amazing, the way we play. I mean, five sets. I'm very happy. I don't know. What can I say?”
He did not need to say much. His tennis had already spoken loudly enough.
Navone stared down a legend, rode out the chaos and refused to blink when Djokovic briefly looked ready to escape again. He stayed present, stayed aggressive, and when the opportunity came, he took it without mercy.
A question that won’t go away
When a 39-year-old champion, chasing a record 25th major, leaves a Grand Slam vomiting, cramping and speaking of a long-term health issue that flares in the very conditions that define summer hard-court tennis, the question is unavoidable.
Was this just a brutal off night in brutal conditions?
Or was this, in New York of all places, the last time Novak Djokovic walks off a Grand Slam court as an active contender rather than a fading memory of what once seemed unbreakable?
