Novak Djokovic Suffers a Huge First-Round Upset

Tennis · US Open 2026

Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York  |  Sunday, August 30 – Monday, August 31, 2026

Novak Djokovic's pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title will have to wait at least another year. The No. 4 seed and four-time US Open champion was eliminated in the first round of the 2026 tournament, beaten in five punishing sets by unseeded Argentine Mariano Navone, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, in a match that stretched to four hours and 36 minutes and finished at 2:01 a.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was, by any measure, one of the biggest shocks of Djokovic's career. The 39-year-old had never lost before the third round at the US Open, and hadn't exited a Grand Slam in the first round since the 2006 Australian Open — a streak of 78 consecutive Grand Slam first-round wins, the longest run in the Open era for either the men's or women's tour, that came to an abrupt end against the world No. 49.

A body that gave out before the will did

What made the loss so jarring wasn't simply the result, but the way it unfolded. Djokovic — a player who has spent two decades making a career out of outlasting opponents deep into deciding sets — was the one who visibly wore down as the match extended beyond the third set. He was seen taking pills and vomiting courtside during the match, had his lower back massaged ahead of the deciding fifth set, and appeared to fight back tears as the contest neared its conclusion. His left foot also appeared to bother him throughout the night.

Djokovic later described the physical toll candidly, saying he had been carrying the same issue through most of his matches this year — vomiting and throwing up — and called it a serious, ongoing problem rather than a one-off occurrence.

The numbers reflected the collapse. Djokovic finished with 70 unforced errors and 10 double faults, wildly out of character for a player renowned for his precision and consistency. He won the opening set in a tiebreak and pushed the match to two sets apiece, but from there Navone seized control, closing out the third, fourth and fifth sets as Djokovic's level dropped off a cliff. "Just struggled all the way since the fourth game of the match," Djokovic admitted afterward, adding that he had pretty much despised every moment he spent on the court that night.

Not an isolated incident

The Flushing Meadows collapse wasn't a standalone event. Djokovic suffered a first-round exit at the Cincinnati Open just weeks earlier in similarly grueling fashion, and when asked directly on Monday whether his ongoing health concerns were something that could be fixed, he offered no reassurance, saying simply that he was trying but didn't know. It capped a season in which Djokovic reached the semifinals at last year's US Open, losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, and finished runner-up at this year's Australian Open — respectable results, but ones that leave him still without a Grand Slam title since his last US Open triumph in 2023.

Navone's landmark win

For 25-year-old Mariano Navone, ranked 49th in the world, the victory is by far the biggest of his career, sending him into the second round at Flushing Meadows for a second consecutive year. Navone said afterward that facing Djokovic carried a bittersweet quality given how much he had idolized the Serbian growing up, calling the atmosphere on Ashe one of the best experiences he's had on a tennis court.

Match at a glance

Detail	Result
Round	First Round, Men's Singles
Winner	Mariano Navone (Argentina), No. 49
Score	7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Match duration	4 hours, 36 minutes
Djokovic unforced errors	70
Djokovic double faults	10
Match finish time	2:01 a.m.
Last Djokovic Slam 1st-round loss	2006 Australian Open

What it means going forward

The defeat carries consequences beyond a single early exit. Djokovic's shock loss is set to push him out of the ATP top 10 for the first time since 2018, and it guarantees his chase of a record-extending 25th major title will run into at least 2027. Whether the recurring physical issues point to a deeper, ongoing problem remains an open question — one Djokovic himself, by his own admission on Monday, doesn't yet have an answer for.

Sources

• Yahoo Sports — "Novak Djokovic's first-round upset loss blows open the US Open men's bracket even further"
• OutKick / Fox News — "Novak Djokovic suffers stunning defeat in first round of US Open"
• Sports Illustrated — "Novak Djokovic Reveals What Went Wrong in First-Round US Open Upset"
• Tennis365 — "Novak Djokovic's 'despise' comment sparks 'awful' response after US Open collapse"
• MSN — "2026 US Open results: Novak Djokovic suffers first round upset to Mariano Navone"
• The Daily Caller — "Novak Djokovic Suffers Mammoth Upset Against Mariano Navone"

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