{"id":60778,"date":"2026-08-31T02:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T02:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/60778\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T02:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T02:54:12","slug":"us-open-2026-day-1-live-novak-djokovic-makes-unwanted-history-as-aussies-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/60778\/","title":{"rendered":"US Open 2026, Day 1 live: Novak Djokovic makes unwanted history as Aussies struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in 20 years Novak Djokovic has dropped the first set of his opening round match at a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

The Serbian legend was bettered by Mariane Navone in the opening set, fighting back from an early break to take a one-set lead in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5).<\/p>\n

Alarmingly early in the second set, the 24-time grand slam champ said to his box: \u201cI have nothing right now\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old fought hard to level the match up at one set apiece, taking the second set 7-5.<\/p>\n

He then secured a huge break in the third to go up 5-4, before holding serve to go one set away from a second round berth.<\/p>\n

However, it remains an uncharacteristic performance from Djokovic, who committed more than a dozen unforced errors in the third set alone. <\/p>\n

Djokovic\u2019s struggles come on what has been a tough opening day for the Australian contingent.<\/p>\n

Qualifier Storm Hunter was defeated by 11th seed Marta Kostyuk, while breakout Aussie star Talia Gibson lost in three sets to Donna Vekic.<\/p>\n

Gibson had her rival on the ropes down 0-40 serving at 4-2, only to miss five straight returns to let the Paris Olympics silver medallist off the hook.<\/p>\n

That blunder would in the end prove costly as the Croatian came back to take the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hard one to swallow,\u201d Gibson said after the loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time it\u2019s who makes the most unforced errors on the court who comes away with the loss, and today that was me, so it\u2019s just something to learn from.<\/p>\n

\u201cDays like these are really tough. It\u2019s hard not to be disappointed. When it comes to the slams, every player wants to do well.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if I\u2019m looking at my entire year so far, I\u2019ve been able to achieve some things that probably at the start of the year I probably wouldn\u2019t have thought I\u2019d be able to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to still be in the position ranking that I currently have and moving forward to these next tournaments, I don\u2019t really have any points to defend, so it\u2019s kind of just no pressure and more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam Walton also crashed out to China\u2019s Yibin Wu in straight sets.<\/p>\n

However, it wasn\u2019t all doom and gloom with rising star Taylah Preston beating local hope Alycia Parks in straight sets. <\/p>\n

The 20-year-old was dominant from start to finish as she reeled off a 6-3, 6-3 win.<\/p>\n

Two more Aussies will take to the court on Monday morning in a bid to be the first Aussie through to the second round. <\/p>\n

Kim Birrell and Alexandar Vukic also took to the court on Day 1. However, their matches were stopped by rain and will be continued tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Birrell is a set down and the match is precariously balanced in a second set tiebreak, while Vukic is midway through the fifth set against Rei Sakamoto.<\/p>\n

World No. 7 Alex de Minaur\u2019s US Open campaign will begin tomorrow morning against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri.<\/p>\n

Originally published as US Open 2026, Day 1 live: Novak Djokovic makes unwanted history as Aussies struggle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in 20 years Novak Djokovic has dropped the first set of his opening round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[23047,23212,23207,23166,23172,23210,23211,23203,23190,23197,23162,19901,23202,21921,23193,23200,20163,23215,23186,15698,23179,23157,430,362,23189,23171,23173,23185,23195,2352,1944,23174,1086,23160,23205,23188,1965,23082,23182,23163,23180,23191,18663,23187,23208,23164,4573,23155,23167,4628,23213,23161,12985,23175,5860,139,23181,23177,18764,23152,23169,23198,1962,549,23209,23176,19297,23183,23153,15196,23154,14907,23042,23156,15748,16348,23159,18635,15700,23196,16587,23204,23194,23168,14910,15704,23206,23201,23165,14864,23178,16414,14391,4701,14878,23199,23192,23158,5190,23184,23214,23170,3829,14861],"class_list":["post-60778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-novak-djokovic","tag-s-struggles","tag-s-us-open-campaign","tag-s-yibin-wu","tag-0-40","tag-11th-seed-marta-kostyuk","tag-20-years","tag-20-year-first","tag-4-2","tag-5-4","tag-6-3-win-two-more-aussies","tag-7-5","tag-a-6-3","tag-a-bid","tag-a-grand-slam","tag-a-hard-one","tag-a-huge-break","tag-a-one-set-lead","tag-a-second-round-berth-however","tag-a-second-set-tiebreak","tag-a-set","tag-a-tiebreaker-7-6","tag-a-tough-opening-day","tag-adam-walton","tag-alex-de-minaur","tag-an-early-break","tag-an-uncharacteristic-performance","tag-any-points","tag-aussies-struggle","tag-breakout-aussie-star-talia-gibson","tag-china","tag-day-1","tag-days","tag-djokovic","tag-donna-vekic-gibson","tag-every-player","tag-five-straight-returns","tag-flushing-meadows","tag-gibson","tag-her-rival","tag-his-box","tag-his-opening-clash-the-39-year-old","tag-his-opening-round-match","tag-holding","tag-italian-qualifier-andrea-guerrieri","tag-just-no-pressure","tag-kim-birrell-and-alexandar-vukic","tag-kind","tag-local-hope-alycia-parks","tag-mariane-navone","tag-monday","tag-more-opportunities","tag-more-than-a-dozen-unforced-errors","tag-morning","tag-my-entire-year","tag-novak","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-one-set","tag-one-set-apiece","tag-rain","tag-rei-sakamoto-world-no-7","tag-rising-star-taylah-preston","tag-some-things","tag-start","tag-straight-sets","tag-straight-sets-however","tag-the-20-year-old","tag-the-24-time-grand-slam-champ","tag-the-australian-contingent","tag-the-australian-contingent-qualifier-storm-hunter","tag-the-court","tag-the-croatian","tag-the-end","tag-the-fifth-set","tag-the-first-aussie","tag-the-first-set","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-hook-that-blunder","tag-the-loss","tag-the-match","tag-the-most-unforced-errors","tag-the-opening-set","tag-the-paris-olympics-silver-medallist","tag-the-position-ranking","tag-the-ropes","tag-the-second-round","tag-the-second-set","tag-the-second-set-7-5-he","tag-the-serbian-legend","tag-the-slams","tag-the-start","tag-the-third","tag-the-third-set","tag-the-time","tag-the-us-open","tag-the-year","tag-their-matches","tag-these-next-tournaments","tag-three-sets","tag-today","tag-tomorrow-morning","tag-tomorrow-birrell","tag-unwanted-history","tag-us-open-2026","tag-vukic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}