Novak Djokovic’s US Open ended in tears on Sunday night when he was beaten 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-1 by Navone in a first-round loss that landed like a shock. The 39-year-old fought through one set, then two, then three, before the match slipped away and his face did what the score already had: it told the story.
Djokovic did not hide how hard it hit him. He said he “despised every moment I spent on the court for that” and called it “really not enjoyable,” even as he thanked the crowd support and said it was “incredible.” He also apologised to the fans, saying he was “very sorry that I didn’t perform as well as I should have, could have, or wanted - for them.”
What made the result sting beyond the score was the context around it. This was Djokovic’s first opening-round Grand Slam exit since 2006, a mark that underscored how rarely he has been beaten this early even in years when doubts have followed him. He has won four of the five Grand Slams since dropping out of the world’s top 20 in 2018, and he reached this tournament carrying the same question that has hovered over his last three years without a major title: whether a record 25th major triumph is still there for him.
The friction in this defeat was not just emotional. Djokovic has repeatedly answered fresh questions with deep runs and big wins, including this year’s five-set Wimbledon quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime and January’s win over Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open. Yet against Navone, the shape of the match kept turning away from him after the opening set. A five-setter rewards the player who can keep intensity and physical level late into the night; this time, Djokovic was the one fading while Navone kept building points and forcing the finish to move in the other direction.
That leaves the most important part of the story still open. Djokovic’s defeat closes the US Open in the round he least expected to leave, and it renews the pressure on every tournament that follows. The record 25th major remains the number attached to his pursuit, but after Sunday night the more immediate question is whether he can recover quickly enough to put himself back in position to chase it.
