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Mariano Navone beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in four hours and 36 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium to end the Serb’s run of 78 consecutive first-round wins at Grand Slam tournaments. It is Djokovic’s first opening-round exit at a major since the 2006 Australian Open and his first defeat before the third round at the US Open. Daniil Medvedev, Jiri Lehecka, Tommy Paul and Denis Shapovalov advanced; 29th seed Cameron Norrie went out.
New York, United States: Novak Djokovic had won 78 first-round matches in a row at Grand Slam tournaments, the longest such run in the Open era in either the men’s or women’s game. On Sunday night he lost one, and the tournament lost its biggest name before it had properly started.
Four Hours and Thirty-Six Minutes
Mariano Navone is 25, ranked 49th in the world, and won his first ATP title earlier this year. He had never won a five-set match. He was also not remotely intimidated on Ashe.
Djokovic took the second set and celebrated with a restrained fist pump, then cupped a hand to his ear on the way to the third. From there it fell apart. He was visibly unwell, received treatment, and after firing a shot wide in the fourth he landed awkwardly and dropped his racket. He won three games in the last two sets combined.
It was the longest opening match of his career at a major. Afterwards he said simply that he had not enjoyed himself. Navone, who grew up idolising him, said it was tough playing the greatest of all time on that court.
The Streak, and What Goes With It
Djokovic had never lost before the third round in New York, where he has won four titles. He came in seeded fourth and chasing a record 25th major.
That wait now runs into 2027, if he chooses to keep going. He has gone 12 consecutive majors without a title, equalling the longest drought of his career, and he will drop out of the world’s top ten for the first time in eight years.
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It also continues a poor stretch rather than starting one. He lost his opening match in Cincinnati earlier this month, his first outing since Jannik Sinner beat him in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Medvedev Answers for Last Year
Twelve months ago Daniil Medvedev lost a chaotic five-setter here to Benjamin Bonzi that finished at 12.49am. This was the opposite: 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 against qualifier Hugo Gaston in two hours and 14 minutes.
The seventh seed arrived 1-3 in the North American hard-court swing and having lost his opener in Winston-Salem, and none of it showed. He hit ten aces, won 83 per cent of points behind his first serve and conceded a single break point all match.
Jiri Lehecka, the 18th seed, needed four sets to see off Pablo Carreno Busta, and 20th seed Tommy Paul dropped the opening tiebreak to Coleman Wong before winning the next three.
Norrie Goes Too
Cameron Norrie was the only other seed beaten in a completed match. The 29th seed took the first-set tiebreak against Luca Van Assche and then won six more games across the next three sets, going down 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Denis Shapovalov was closer to joining him. Miomir Kecmanovic levelled the match and led 4-2 in the third before Shapovalov took the last two sets to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry lost seven games in a straight-sets win over Vit Kopriva, Arthur Rinderknech recovered from a set down against Sho Shimabukuro, and Toby Samuel beat Tomas Machac 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Five Sets on the Outside Courts
Jaume Munar was two sets down to Terence Atmane before winning 6-7(5), 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 7-5. Jaime Faria led Jenson Brooksby by two sets, lost the next two — the fourth 6-1 — and won the decider. Dino Prizmic came through 7-5 in the fifth against Aleksandr Shevchenko.
Several matches were left unfinished and carry over. So does most of the top of the draw: Carlos Alcaraz, back from four months out with a wrist injury, opens against Roman Safiullin on Monday, and top seed Alexander Zverev — elevated after Sinner withdrew with a knee problem — starts against Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday.
First-round results — US Open, men’s singles, day one
M. Navone d. [4] N. Djokovic 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
[7] D. Medvedev d. H. Gaston 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
[18] J. Lehecka d. P. Carreno Busta 6-1, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2
[20] T. Paul d. C. Wong 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
[26] A. Rinderknech d. S. Shimabukuro 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2
[27] T. M. Etcheverry d. V. Kopriva 6-3, 6-4, 6-0
L. Van Assche d. [29] C. Norrie 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
D. Shapovalov d. M. Kecmanovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
J. Munar d. T. Atmane 6-7(5), 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 7-5
J. Faria d. J. Brooksby 6-3, 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-6, 6-2
D. Prizmic d. A. Shevchenko 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
Y. Wu d. A. Walton 7-6(2), 6-2, 7-5
K. Majchrzak d. H. Medjedovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
D. Merida d. M. Fucsovics 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
L. Harris d. J. Kennedy 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
T. Samuel d. T. Machac 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
