Novak Djokovic suffered a stunning loss on Sunday night at the US Open, as his streak of 77 consecutive first-round wins at the majors was snapped by 25-year-old Mariano Navone of Argentina in Arthur Ashe Stadium, 7-6(5) 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in four hours and 36 minutes.
Djokovic struggled with physical difficulties from the onset, he never fully looked like himself, and yet he still found a way to take a two sets to one lead. He was keeled over at times, vomiting at the side of the court at others, and struggling with his back as well.
It all caught up to the 39-year-old 24-time major champion in the end – he won just three games in the final two sets as he suffered his first opening-round loss at the majors since 2006.
“It’s unbelievable, it means a lot to me,” Navone said on court after his victory. “It’s a dream come true.”
Navone, ranked 49th, becomes the first Argentine to defeat Djokovic at a major since 2005, as he logged his second career Top 10 win.
Djokovic, bidding for a record 25th major and just five US Opens win shy of becoming the first player to win at least 100 wins at every Grand Slam, had similar struggles in Cincinnati two weeks ago, where he wilted in the heat as he fell to another Argentine, Thiago Augustin Tirante, in his only match on the North American hard courts before the Open.
The Serbian legend drops to 95-16 lifetime in Flushing Meadows and 392-55 at the Slams.
Credit Navone for ensuring that the pair’s first meeting was a physical encounter. Djokovic shied away from long points as much as he could, and had enough success to get within a set of victory, but he just couldn’t muster any physicality on a humid evening in Queens, as his wife Jelena and his two children looked on with concern.
Raindrops in Flushing were a hopeful sign for Flushing because it meant the closing of the roof and cooler conditions. But they weren’t enough to save him as the contest plodded past four hours and the great champion’s once prodigious batteries failed to keep a charge.
More to follow…
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