NEW YORK – The first major upset of the 2026 US Open came to its merciful end in the waning minutes of the tournament\u2019s opening day.<\/p>\n
Over the course of a grueling four-hour, 36-minute first-round loss at Arthur Ashe Stadium late Sunday night, 39-year-old Novak Djokovic battled not only a gritty opponent in unseeded Mariano Navone but his own body.<\/p>\n
Djokovic – the Open\u2019s No. 4 seed who holds the all-time record with 24 Grand Slam championships – ingested pills and vomited during the five-set slugfest. His left foot appeared to bother him. He had his lower back massaged ahead of the fifth set.<\/p>\n
Emotion seemed to overcome Djokovic, who appeared to wipe away tears as the fifth set approached its end.<\/p>\n
Djokovic committed 70 unforced errors as the Argentine Navone, the No. 49 player in the global rankings, outlasted him 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. The result was Djokovic\u2019s first-ever first-round loss at the Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me,\u201d Djokovic said early Monday morning following a match that ended just before midnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year. Vomiting, throwing up, a serious issue there. Then my whole body, you know, starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. Yeah, the back just gave up in the end, and shoulder, and I couldn\u2019t close it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the earliest exit by Djokovic at a major tournament since the 2006 Australian Open.<\/p>\n
Djokovic is a four-time US Open winner, most recently in 2023, but he hasn\u2019t been able to win a Grand Slam tournament since then.<\/p>\n
The Serbian sensation made it to the semifinals last year at Flushing Meadows, where he fell to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, and finished as the runner-up in Australia in January.<\/p>\n
But August\u2019s Cincinnati Open was a similar grind for Djokovic, who suffered a first-round loss there, too.<\/p>\n
Asked Monday if his health concerns are something he can fix, Djokovic replied, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m trying, man. I\u2019m trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to (the) match itself and overall feeling of how I felt with [my] body and playing, it was really not enjoyable,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cI pretty much despised every moment that I spent on the court for that. But from the perspective of the crowd and support, it was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic\u2019s sudden exit blows open a compromised men\u2019s bracket even further, as Jannik Sinner – the top-ranked player in the world – is sitting out of the US Open due to a knee injury.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Monday marked the return of Alcaraz after a four-month layoff due to a wrist injury. The Spanish-born Alcaraz, a two-time Open winner, is the No. 2 seed behind Germany\u2019s Alexander Zverev.<\/p>\n
One of Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic has won each of the previous four US Opens.<\/p>\n
All of that makes it more possible for someone else to hoist the trophy this year. An American man has not won the Open – or any Grand Slam tournament – since Andy Roddick in 2003.<\/p>\n
Six of the top 20 seeds in Queens are Americans.<\/p>\n
Venus’ future<\/p>\n
Because the preceding Djokovic-Navone bout lasted so long, Venus Williams\u2019 first-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium didn\u2019t begin until 12:13 a.m.<\/p>\n
It was the latest start time in US Open history.<\/p>\n
That match didn\u2019t drag on as long, as Williams, 46, lost in straight sets to Sofia Kenin 6-2, 7-6 (6).<\/p>\n
Afterward, Williams acknowledged the late start made it difficult to find a rhythm, but she also credited her opponent, a 27-year-old American who was granted the tournament\u2019s final wild-card spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was extremely late,\u201d Williams said Monday after a match that ended at 2:01 a.m. \u201cI\u2019ve never played a match that late before, and I was happy to see that so many people stuck around for that. It was a real honor to play in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A two-time Open champion, Williams has now suffered five consecutive first-round exits at Flushing Meadows. She\u2019s lost 15 consecutive singles matches overall.<\/p>\n
But Williams – who is set to compete with her sister Serena Williams in the Open\u2019s doubles tournament this week – wasn\u2019t ready to contemplate what\u2019s next for her career after that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I should have to,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI mean, my mind is fully focused on that. So I\u2019m going to recover from this completely insane evening and get ready for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK – The first major upset of the 2026 US Open came to its merciful end in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[271,775,139,28,1983,647,2011,2010,2388,747],"class_list":["post-63583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-novak-djokovic","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-grand-slam-tennis","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-people","tag-tennis-players","tag-tennis-segments","tag-tennis-tournaments","tag-tournament","tag-venus-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63583","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=63583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}