There are losses, and then there are moments that feel like a chapter closing.
Novak Djokovic’s stunning first-round exit at the U.S. Open felt like the latter.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by Mariano Navone 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 Sunday night in a four-hour, 36-minute marathon. It was Djokovic’s first opening-round loss at a major since the 2006 Australian Open.
And somehow, the score almost doesn’t tell the story.
Djokovic battled through vomiting, cramping and back and shoulder issues, yet somehow still won the second and third sets. At 39, with a body that increasingly appears to be asking questions his mind refuses to answer, he kept fighting until there was nothing left.
That is what makes this one so difficult to watch.
For stretches, it looked less like Djokovic fighting Navone and more like Djokovic coming to terms with his own mortality as a tennis player. The tears. The exhaustion. The moments between points when the legendary competitor seemed to know exactly what his body was telling him.
This is Novak Djokovic we are talking about. The guy who has spent two decades making the impossible look routine.
He deserves enormous credit for refusing to quit.
Navone deserves every ounce of praise for finishing the job.
But watching Djokovic walk off Arthur Ashe Stadium, there was an unmistakable feeling that we may have just witnessed something bigger than an upset.
We may have witnessed the beginning of the end of one of the greatest careers sports has ever seen.
And if that was the final chapter in New York, there are worse ways to write it than with Djokovic fighting until he simply couldn’t fight anymore.
