Sport

US Open: Djokovic eliminated in the first round after on-court incident

The Serbian suffers a five-set defeat against Argentine Navone, culminating in a troubling moment on the court.

31 August 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: US Open: Djokovic eliminated in the first round after on-court incident — Archive photoPhoto: Edwin Martinez · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the first round of the US Open, losing in five sets to Argentina's Mariano Navone, ranked 49th in the world. The match concluded with a score of 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, marking a significant surprise for the Serbian tennis player.

During the match, Djokovic displayed signs of distress, vomiting on the court and crying. At the end of the match, he stated that he was facing a serious issue and needed to understand how far he could go in these conditions.

This defeat marks the first time Djokovic has exited in the first round of a Grand Slam since 2006, ending a long streak of success. Furthermore, the Serbian champion will fall out of the ATP top 10 rankings after eight years.

Djokovic reported that his body started to give way, suffering from cramps and pain in his back and shoulder by the conclusion of the match.

Navone's victory marks a significant milestone in the Argentine's career and puts an end to Djokovic's efforts to secure a record 25 Grand Slam titles.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.