US Open 2026: Djokovic knocked out in the first round by Mariano Navone

The opening day of the main draw served up the biggest shock Flushing Meadows had to offer: Novak Djokovic is out at the first hurdle. Among the French, Arthur Rinderknech and Luca Van Assche go through, rain pushed five matches into the next day, and neither Carlos Alcaraz nor Arthur Fils plays before Monday.

What happened to Novak Djokovic?

The Serb, seeded fourth, loses to Argentina's Mariano Navone in five sets (7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1) after 4 hours and 36 minutes. He had led two sets to one.

One number says it all: Djokovic had won 78 consecutive opening-round matches at majors, and stood 19-0 in US Open first rounds. He had not left a major this early since 2006. It is also the first Grand Slam since 2003 whose second round is played without Djokovic, Federer or Nadal.

The match turned into a physical ordeal: vomiting, cramp, back pain, treatment between sets, and 70 unforced errors. "I didn't enjoy myself. I think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me," said the 39-year-old, who could drop out of the world's top 10 for the first time since 2018. Navone, 25, had beaten only one top-10 player before this.

How did the French players fare?

Arthur Rinderknech (seeded 26th) was the first Frenchman through. A set down despite holding a set point of his own, he turned the match around against Japan's Sho Shimabukuro in just over three hours (6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2).

Luca Van Assche produced the French result of the day, seeing off Britain's Cameron Norrie, the 29th seed, in four sets (6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3). At 22, he reaches the second round in New York for the first time.

The others went out:

Hugo Gaston, through from qualifying, could not live with Daniil Medvedev (4-6, 2-6, 4-6). The Russian hit ten aces to the Frenchman's none.
Terence Atmane lost the cruellest match of the day: two sets up, he was reeled in by Jaume Munar over 4 hours and 53 minutes (6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6, 7-5). Atmane is still waiting for a first win in a Grand Slam main draw. Munar is the man Rinderknech meets in the second round.

One consolation: Arthur Gea, beaten in the final round of qualifying by Nishesh Basavareddy (3-6, 1-6), was let in as a lucky loser after Casper Ruud withdrew.

Why did five matches go unfinished?

A storm cleared the outside courts at around 8.05pm in New York. Five men's singles matches and two women's singles matches were suspended and resume on Monday from where they stopped — rain had already pushed the end of qualifying back to Friday.

Two French players are involved: Adrian Mannarino, two sets down before levelling, leads 5-2 in the deciding set against Argentina's Thiago Agustin Tirante; Lois Boisson, on the other hand, trails American Emma Navarro (7-6(6), 4-2).

In the women's draw, Jessica Pegula (3) brushed aside Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse (6-3, 6-2) and Jasmine Paolini (19) escaped Slovenia's Veronika Erjavec (6-3, 3-6, 6-4). One seed has already fallen: Barbora Krejcikova (27), beaten by Kamilla Rakhimova.

A final knock-on effect of the Djokovic marathon: the night session ran so late that Venus Williams, 46 and a wild card, did not walk onto Arthur Ashe until after midnight — the latest start in the tournament's history.