In emotional scenes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, 24-time Gtand Slam winner Novak Djokovic was left in tears as he battled multiple fitness concerns in a stunning five-set defeat in the first round of the men’s singles event of the US Open 2026 to unheralded Argentine Mariano Navone. This is the first time since Australian Open in 2006 that Djokovic has exited a Grand Slam tournament in the opening round.
This was the longest ever match first-round match in a Grand Slam for Djokovic – the most successful men’s singles player in major history. The contest lasted 4 hours and 36 minutes.
This is the first time in his career that Djokovic has made a first-round exit at the U.S. Open. His previous earliest exit from the year’s final Grand Slam tournament was in the third round. The match was halted during the first set so that the roof above Arthur Ashe Stadium could be closed because of rain that suspended play on the outer courts.
Djokovic vomited several times during the contest, was attended to by the physio as he took a medical timeout after losing the fourth set – receiving massage on his spine and another delivery of medication.
He then struggled to contain his tears as Navone took a 4-1 led in the decider.
The 39-year-old eventually lost 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 to the 48th ranked Navone.
The result ends It Djokovic’s run of 78 Grand Slam first-round victories, a streak stretching back to his 2006 loss to Paul Goldstein at the Australian Open.
Born in February 2001 in Nueve de Julio, Buenos Aires, Mariano is the son of Luis Navone and Analía Vizzon. He comes from an Italian background and has two sisters, Lucía and Pilar.
Navone picked up a tennis racket at the age of three and eventually continued his development at the Escuela de Tenis del Club Atlético Nueve de Julio.
At the 2024 French Open, Navone was seeded 31st, making history as the first player in Grand Slam history to enter a major main draw as a seeded player on his Grand Slam debut.
He arrived at the US Open following a Round of 32 appearance in Winston-Salem, where he was beaten in straight sets by James Duckworth.
“It’s unbelievable. It means a lot for me," Navone said on facing Djokovic for the first time in his career. “It’s a dream come true, I mean seriously, 100 per cent. Now I have to recover. I think it’s almost 12 o’clock, so we have to go to sleep."
Source: News18