Novak Djokovic Vomits Repeatedly, Sobs in Five-Set Loss to Mariano Navone in US Open First Round

Novak Djokovic's US Open ended before it really started. The 39-year-old, seeded fourth, lost 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to Argentina's Mariano Navone late Sunday night into Monday morning at Arthur Ashe Stadium, according to the BBC. The match ran four hours and 36 minutes.

Djokovic vomited into a towel bin during the match, according to the BBC, and Forbes reported he threw up multiple times, used an inhaler and took tablets courtside. The Guardian described him bent over the towel bin "neither the first nor last time" he was sick during the match.

This was Djokovic's first first-round loss at the US Open in his career and his first opening-round exit at any Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open, when he lost to American Paul Goldstein at age 18, according to the Guardian and sportbible. Forbes noted he will drop out of the ATP top 10 for the first time since July 2018 as a result.

"A serious issue there"

Djokovic was blunt about what's going on. "It's something that I have been carrying pretty much every match this year, vomiting, throwing up," he told reporters, according to the BBC and multiple other outlets. "Then my whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. The back just gave up in the end, and shoulder."

He called it a "serious issue" but said he doesn't have a diagnosis. Asked whether he could fix it, Djokovic said, "I don't know. I'm trying, man. I'm trying. Let's see," according to Forbes.

This wasn't a one-off. Two weeks earlier at the Cincinnati Open, Djokovic lost to Argentina's Thiago Tirante in similarly humid conditions while dealing with what the Guardian described as the same physical struggles. Djokovic said afterward he'd been battling the condition "for many years now," per Forbes.

The match itself

According to the Guardian, Djokovic was already struggling with the humidity barely 15 minutes into the match, before he'd even consolidated an early break. He fought back from a set down to lead two sets to one, then physically fell apart, winning just one of the last 12 games, according to motorcyclesports.

Djokovic admitted he thought about quitting mid-match. "I have, I have considered quitting," he said, according to the Express. "But then I won a set and then a third one. Then I was like, okay, maybe there is a chance. I didn't want to give up in fourth or fifth, so I wanted to kind of finish the match."

He was in tears at multiple points, wiping his eyes with Navone leading 3-1 in the deciding fifth set, according to sportbible. Djokovic later said the crowd's support in that moment "really touched my heart," per motorcyclesports, even as he admitted, "I pretty much despised every moment that I spent on the court."

Grace in defeat, and a broader picture

Djokovic didn't make excuses about Navone, a 25-year-old ranked 49th who had never won an ATP Tour-level title. "I don't want to take too much out of Mariano's win," Djokovic said, according to the BBC. "Congrats to him, he's a nice guy and a fighter, but I didn't enjoy myself."

John McEnroe offered a generous read on ESPN, quoted by Forbes: "I think it actually turns out better for him because it shows he's human. It gives you an even greater sense of how amazing his accomplishments were." That perspective suits a man who has 24 Grand Slam titles and was chasing a record-breaking 25th at an age when almost every other man his height in the sport has retired.

The on-court evidence tells a clear story. Djokovic has now lost early at back-to-back North American hard-court events to Argentine opponents outside the top 40, both times citing the same unresolved physical breakdown. Whether it's tied to heat tolerance, a specific undiagnosed illness, or simple accumulated wear from two decades of professional tennis, Djokovic himself says he doesn't know.

Djokovic's exit clears one obstacle for defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who was scheduled to open his own tournament Monday against Roman Safiullin as he returns from a long-term wrist injury, according to the Express. Navone advances to face either Matteo Berrettini or Stan Wawrinka in the second round, per sportbible. Djokovic gave no indication Monday of whether or when he'll play again this season.