Novak Djokovic Faces Early Exit at US Open 2023
Under the Arthur Ashe lights where he has so often bent matches, opponents and history to his will, Novak Djokovic finally ran out of answers.
On a night that felt less like the start of a Grand Slam and more like the closing of a chapter, the 39-year-old crashed out of the US Open in the first round, beaten in five sets by a fearless Mariano Navone, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, in four hours and 36 bruising minutes.
It was the longest opening match of Djokovic’s Grand Slam career. It was also his earliest exit at a major in 20 years, dating back to the 2006 Australian Open. He had never before lost in the first round in New York.
On the 21st anniversary of his US Open debut, the obvious question hung in the humid air: was this the last time Djokovic walks into a Grand Slam arena as a player?
A champion’s body betrays him
From the start, something was off.
Djokovic, the owner of 24 major titles and a reputation for ironclad resilience, looked mortal. He labored between points, fought visible discomfort and waged a running battle with his own body. At one stage he threw up. Later he grabbed at his left foot, clearly cramping. He swallowed pills handed to him by the tournament doctor. During a medical timeout between the fourth and fifth sets, he lay on the court while his lower back was massaged.
The numbers told their own story. Seventy unforced errors spilled off his racket — a staggering total for a man whose game has been built on precision, calculation and control. By the end, he was grimacing after routine shots.
Yet even a diminished Djokovic still threatened to do what he has done so often: escape.
Seeded No. 4, he bolted out to 3-0 and 4-1 leads in the opening set, only to see them disappear. He had never before squandered such a start in a first-round match at this tournament. Navone, 25 years old and unfazed, dragged him into a tiebreak and took it, 7-5.
Djokovic’s box, with his wife Jelena watching anxiously, rode the emotional swings with him. There were flashes of the old Novak. The clenched fist after he clawed back the second set. The familiar gesture to the crowd — hand cupped to ear — as he surged through the third, demanding more noise, more energy, one more night of deference to his greatness.
But this time, the roar never quite turned the tide.
Navone’s night, Djokovic’s reckoning
Navone, an Argentine who claimed his first ATP singles title earlier this year, refused to be overawed by the stage or the opponent he grew up idolizing.
“(It) was very tough for me because you are playing with the ‘GOAT’ on this court,” he said on court afterward, still processing the scale of what he had done. “For sure it’s the best thing I’ve had on court. This is an amazing court and the biggest stage. It’s amazing, the way we play. I mean, five sets. … I’m very happy. I don’t know. What can I say?”
What he could say was simple enough: he had just claimed the biggest win of his life.
Djokovic, increasingly compromised physically, could not keep pace. After firing a shot wide in the fourth set, he landed awkwardly, dropped his racket and looked every bit his age. He all but surrendered that set, saving what he could for a final push in the fifth.
The push never came.
Navone, sensing the moment, accelerated. Djokovic, chasing what would have been a 43rd career five-set victory, had nothing left. Navone closed it out for his first.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “This means a lot. It’s a dream come true.”
An uncertain future
The loss capped a grim stretch for Djokovic on hard courts. Earlier this month he fell in the first round at the Cincinnati tuneup event, his first match since losing to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals.
He had tried to spin that early Cincinnati exit as a blessing, extra time to prepare his body and mind for one more run in New York. At the same time, he admitted that the first match at any tournament has become a growing obstacle in recent years.
In the past, he treated those hurdles as mere warm-ups before the real business of the second week. This time, the hurdle stopped him cold.
So he walks away from Flushing Meadows not with another record, but with a decision looming. After two decades of redefining what longevity looks like at the top of the sport, Djokovic must now confront the question he has forced everyone else to delay for so long.
How many more nights like this does he have left — and does he want them?
