Novak Djokovic stunned by Mariano Navone in first-round US Open upset, ending 20-year streak
Novak Djokovic lost to Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the first round at the 2026 US Open on Arthur Ashe Stadium, ending a more than 20-year run without a Grand Slam opening-round defeat. The 49th-ranked Navone won a five-set match 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in four hours and 36 minutes.
Djokovic, 39, had not lost a first-round match at a major since the 2006 Australian Open defeat by Paul Goldstein; Khel Now reported the run as 78 straight first-round Grand Slam wins, while a social post cited 77 consecutive victories. Before Sunday’s result he was 19-0 in opening-round matches at the US Open, and the article recorded his US Open finals tally as 4/20 with an overall Flushing Meadows record of 95-16 and an 86 percent win rate.
The match swung through momentum shifts: Navone took a tight opening-set tiebreak, Djokovic responded to level the match, and by the third set the Serb appeared to have regained control. Djokovic’s movement deteriorated in the latter stages; he was seen vomiting courtside and visibly struggled physically, which Navone exploited to win the fourth and fifth sets 6-2, 6-1.
Navone, ranked 49th, produced what the report described as one of the biggest shocks of the tournament and a victory that will follow him for the rest of his career. The article characterized the result as a marathon five-set battle on Arthur Ashe Stadium and included social-media postings remarking on the rarity of Djokovic’s opening-round defeat at the US Open.
The piece placed the loss in the context of Djokovic’s recent Grand Slam results, noting he was runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open, suffered a shock third-round exit at the French Open to Joao Fonseca, and lost a straight-sets Wimbledon semi-final to Jannik Sinner, in addition to an early upset in Cincinnati earlier in the season.
Djokovic’s first-round exit at Flushing Meadows concludes his participation in the 2026 US Open, eliminating him from the tournament at the opening stage.
