Djokovic Crashes Out in Round One: Earliest Slam Exit in 20 Years

Novak Djokovic's US Open is over before it really began. The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who has looked increasingly troubled by injury in recent months, was beaten by Argentina's Mariano Navone in the first round at Flushing Meadows, his earliest exit from a major tournament in two decades.

Djokovic, who turns 39 this year, has been battling physical issues for much of the season and looked well below his best throughout the defeat. For a player used to going deep into the second week of every Slam he enters, a first-round loss is a genuine shock and immediately raises fresh questions about how much longer he can keep competing at the very top of the men's game.

The defeat has been the talk of the tournament, with pundits and former players lining up to react. Adding to the sense of chaos around Djokovic's exit, there has also been sharp criticism of the US Open's scheduling, with one tennis insider blasting organisers as "simply dumb" for the way Djokovic's match was slotted in around a Venus Williams appearance, fuelling debate about how the tournament handled one of its marquee names on the way out.

For Navone, ranked well outside the game's elite, it is the biggest win of his career and a result that will send shockwaves through the draw. For Djokovic, it is another reminder that his body is no longer allowing him to dictate terms the way he once did, and it leaves his participation in future majors, and his pursuit of further Grand Slam history, looking more uncertain than ever.

With Djokovic gone in round one, the conversation in New York has shifted rapidly from who might win the title to what his shock exit means for the future of the men's game as it edges into a new era without its most decorated modern champion guaranteed a place deep in the draw.