Djokovic Stunned in U.S. Open Opener as Body Gives Way

The Jewish Press was on hand Sunday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium as Novak Djokovic, battling vomiting, cramping and other physical problems, was sent crashing out of the U.S. Open in a stunning five-set loss to Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

Navone defeated the 39-year-old, 24-time Grand Slam champion 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a grueling four-hour, 36-minute match. It was Djokovic’s first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam since 2006 and his first-ever first-round loss in 20 appearances at the U.S. Open.

The result was remarkable not only because of who lost, but because of how it unfolded.

Djokovic struggled physically during the match, including vomiting on court, and afterward said the problem has plagued him repeatedly this season.

“I think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me,” Djokovic said.

He described dealing with “vomiting, throwing up” and said the problems eventually progressed to cramping and pain, with his back and shoulder also troubling him.

Still, for a time, it appeared Djokovic might somehow find another way to survive.

After dropping the opening set in a tiebreak, he battled back to win the second 7-5 and the third 6-4. He then broke Navone early in the fourth and moved ahead 2-1.

Djokovic was up two sets to one and a break.

For most of his extraordinary career, that is exactly the position from which he has broken the spirit of opponents.

Sunday night, his body would not allow it.

Navone broke back and took control of the fourth set, winning it 6-2, before racing through the deciding set 6-1 to complete the biggest victory of his career.

“It means a lot,” Navone said afterward. “It is a dream come true.”

The length of the Djokovic match also had consequences for the rest of opening night on Arthur Ashe.

The evening’s second scheduled match, an all-American first-round meeting between Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin, could not begin until 12:13 a.m. after the players waited through Djokovic and Navone’s four-hour, 36-minute battle. According to the WTA Tour, it was the latest starting match in U.S. Open history.

Kenin ultimately defeated the 46-year-old Williams 6-2, 7-6(6), saving seven set points in the second set and winning the final six points of the match. The loss brought Williams’ record-extending 26th U.S. Open singles appearance to an end in the first round, while Kenin advanced to face Jessica Pegula.

For Djokovic, meanwhile, Sunday’s defeat inevitably raises a much larger question.

How much longer can he continue?

It is a dangerous question to ask about a player who has made a career out of proving people wrong.

Djokovic owns a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles and has won the U.S. Open four times. At an age when the other members of tennis’ famed “Big Three,” Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, have already retired, Djokovic has continued competing at the highest levels of the sport.

But Sunday night provided a stark reminder that his greatest opponent may no longer be the player standing across the net.

At 39, the physical demands of five-set Grand Slam tennis are becoming increasingly difficult to overcome.

“When it comes to the match itself and the overall feeling of how I felt with my body and playing, it was really not enjoyable,” Djokovic said afterward, adding that he “pretty much despised every moment” he spent on the court because of how he felt physically.

Yet there was one part of the difficult evening Djokovic clearly appreciated: the New York crowd.

He praised the support inside Arthur Ashe Stadium as “incredible” and said the appreciation he received at the end “really touched my heart.”

There has been no retirement announcement, and anyone who has followed Djokovic’s career should know better than to write him off after one loss.

But this did not feel like an ordinary first-round defeat.

One of the greatest players in tennis history had fought back from a set down, taken control of the match and put himself in position to advance — only to see his body give way.

For more than two decades, Djokovic has so often been the player who somehow had something left when everyone else was exhausted.

Sunday night in New York, there simply wasn’t enough left.