Night was on the point of fading into early morning by the time Novak Djokovic felt, not for the first time in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the kind of pure, unadulterated love he has so often craved over the course of his storied career.
The cruel irony was that, just like five years ago, when defeat to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final prevented him from becoming only the third man in history to win all four majors in a calendar year, the cheers owed as much to pity as adulation.
Pity at the spectacle of one of the sport’s greatest champions enduring a humbling 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 loss to 49th-ranked Mariano Navone that snapped a streak of 77 opening-round wins at grand slam level dating back to 2006. Pity that the 39-year-old was once again dogged by the undisclosed health issue that did for him against another Argentinian, Thiago Agustín Tirante, earlier this month in Cincinnati. Above all, pity that Djokovic, for so long the doyen of the improbable, was for once unable to turn the tide as he has so often in the past.
It was not for want of trying. Having lost the opening set, where he looked off colour even as he established a 4-1 lead, Djokovic fought back to win the next two and claimed an early break in the fourth. By that stage, however, he had already vomited repeatedly in addition to looking unsteady on his feet and showing signs of cramping. In truth, it was a marvel that the 24-time grand slam champion was able to create a platform for victory at all; having done so, though, his race was run.
From 2-1 up in the fourth set, Djokovic would win only one more game. When that moment came, three games into the decider, he fought back tears as the locals chanted his name, much as he had struggled to contain his emotions in similar circumstances against Medvedev in 2021.
Back then, Djokovic said the love he received from the crowd would stay with him forever. He will waste no time in trying to put this latest torrid experience on Ashe behind him, yet he will surely also hold on to the latest outpouring of affection from the New York public, even if it once more came in the most unwelcome of circumstances.
“The love and respect they showed me at the end really touched my heart,” said Djokovic, speaking to reporters outside the locker room shortly after midnight local time.
“I’m so grateful that I experienced that. When it comes to the match itself. and the general feeling of how I felt in my body and how I played, it really wasn’t pleasant. I pretty much despised every moment I spent on the court today.”
If those were strong words, they were also understandable. With Jannik Sinner, the Italian world No 1, absent because of a knee injury, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz playing his first event since leaving the tour in April to heal an inflamed wrist, this year’s US Open presented a real opportunity for Djokovic to claim a record 25th major. An injury retirement against Alexander Zverev in Melbourne last year aside, only Sinner and Alcaraz have been able to stop Djokovic at the majors in the past two seasons. But it was clear almost from the outset that he was not himself, with heat and humidity once again contributing to his malaise.
“[It was] an awful feeling on the court for me,” Djokovic said of his four hour and 36 minute ordeal. “It’s something that I’ve been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year. You know, vomiting, throwing up, serious issue there. And then my whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. The back just gave up in the end, and the shoulder, and I couldn’t close it out.
“[I] just struggled all the way, since the fourth game of the match. And again, I don’t want to take too much out of his win: congrats to him, he’s a nice guy, a fighter. But you know, I didn’t enjoy myself.”
That much was increasingly evident as the match ran away from Djokovic. After making a fast start, he began to labour physically whenever the rallies extended beyond a few shots, which Navone, a player more naturally at home on clay, almost invariably ensured they did. Djokovic was given pills by the trainer late in the first set and received a back massage before the fifth, but neither medical attention nor the rain that prompted the early closure of the roof, bringing the stadium’s air conditioning into play, could help him pull off another of those comebacks that were once his stock-in-trade.
Djokovic admitted afterwards that he had contemplated retiring from the match. Encouraged by his success in the second and third sets, however, he said he didn’t want to throw in the towel when “maybe there is a chance”.
The question now is how many more chances there will be for Djokovic – although it should be remembered that it is barely seven weeks since he reached a Wimbledon semi-final. It would be a major surprise not to find him in Melbourne come next January. For now, though, the priority must be to find a solution to the health issues that, together with a spirited performance from Navone against his childhood idol, denied Djokovic a proper tilt at a fifth title in New York.
“I’m trying, man, I’m trying,” said Djokovic. “I’m just trying to see what is really happening and how far I can go like this.”