Navone Stuns Djokovic in US Open Upset
On a humid New York night that felt built for Novak Djokovic drama, it was Mariano Navone who walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium as the giant killer.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion and three-time US Open winner, crashed out in the first round in Flushing Meadows for the first time, beaten 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a four-and-a-half-hour marathon that finished just before midnight.
This was not just an upset. It was a collapse.
A Champion Unravels
The early stages followed a familiar script. Djokovic probing, measuring, testing Navone’s nerve. The underdog hanging on, trading from the baseline, refusing to blink. The first set tiebreak went Navone’s way, a warning sign that the night might not bend to history’s will.
Djokovic hit back, though. He clawed his way through the second set, then the third, edging ahead two sets to one. The match seemed to be tilting toward the inevitable: another long, punishing Djokovic comeback, another opponent worn down by the weight of the occasion and the relentlessness across the net.
Then the body gave way.
What began as discomfort turned into something far more visible. Djokovic vomited on court at least once. He grimaced between points. His left foot cramped. He needed a medical timeout for his lower back between the fourth and fifth sets. The veteran who has built a career on outlasting everyone suddenly looked like the one trying to survive.
“I didn’t enjoy myself,” Djokovic admitted afterward. “I think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me.
“It’s something that I’ve been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year: vomiting, throwing up, a serious issue there. Then my whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. Yeah, the back just gave up in the end and shoulder, and I couldn’t close it out.”
From there, the scoreline tells the story. Navone sensed the opening and stormed through the fourth set 6-2. Djokovic’s movement deteriorated, his serve lost its bite, his shoulders sagged. The fifth set was brutal in its simplicity: Navone fresh, aggressive, unafraid; Djokovic reduced to managing pain and trying to stay upright as the match slipped away 6-1.
For a player who last exited a major this early at the 2006 Australian Open, when he lost to Paul Goldstein, this was a jarring reminder that even the greats cannot outrun time and physical limits forever. At 39, chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title, Djokovic left Ashe not with another statement of dominance, but with a medical puzzle that has shadowed him all season.
His last major triumph came here in New York in 2023. The wait for No. 25 goes on.
Buse and Parry Hit New Highs Before New York
While Djokovic’s campaign ended in shock, two rising names arrive at the US Open riding the opposite kind of momentum.
Ignacio Buse, 22, captured the Winston-Salem Open and wrote his own slice of history, becoming the youngest champion the tournament has ever seen. He dismantled Arthur Fery 6-3, 6-2 in the final, a performance that underlined just how far and how fast his game has come this season.
The win marked the second tour-level title of Buse’s career and pushed him to a career-high ranking of No. 30. It was not a fluke run; it was the continuation of a year in which he has steadily forced his name into the broader conversation on tour.
On the women’s side, Diane Parry arrives in New York with something she had chased for a long time: a first WTA title.
Parry lifted the trophy at the WTA 500 event in Monterrey, surviving a wild final against Elise Mertens, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. The scoreline captured the chaos; Parry’s composure in the decider captured her growth.
Before Monterrey, Parry was 0-5 in tour-level semifinals. That statistic now feels like ancient history. She took out fifth seed Ann Li to reach her first final, then beat Mertens for the second time in two weeks to seal the title. Along the way, Parry piled up five Top 50 wins, defeating Mertens, Li, Clara Tauson, Oleksandra Oliynykova, and Donna Vekic in a week that may well redefine her ceiling.
The full slate of champions leading into the US Open told its own story of shifting tides:
- ATP 250 – Winston-Salem Men’s Singles: Ignacio Buse (2nd title of 2026, 2nd of his career) d. Arthur Fery
- Men’s Doubles: Petr Nouza and Neil Oberleitner d. Austin Krajicek and Nikola Mektic
- WTA 500 – Monterrey Women’s Singles: Diane Parry (1st title of 2026, 1st of her career) d. Elise Mertens
- Women’s Doubles: Maya Joint and Yifan Xu d. Mariia Kozyreva and Maia Lumsden
As Djokovic searches for answers and a way back to full health, players like Navone, Buse, and Parry are busy rewriting the cast list at the top of the sport.
New York has its first shock. The question now is whether it’s an isolated tremor, or the start of a deeper shift in tennis’ balance of power.
