{"id":874954,"date":"2026-08-31T11:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T11:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874954\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T11:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T11:28:11","slug":"tough-to-watch-tennis-fans-react-to-novak-djokovics-brutal-us-open-first-round-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874954\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Tough to watch&#8217; \u2013 Tennis fans react to Novak Djokovic&#8217;s &#8216;brutal&#8217; US Open first-round defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/Cg0vZy8xMWcxajNfc2h3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitc.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> Follow us on Google Discover <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>Novak Djokovic has exited the US Open in the first round after his surprising five-set defeat to Mariano Navone.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic won the second and third sets after losing the first in a tiebreak, but he capitulated at the end of the match.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-time Grand Slam champion was dealing with an illness that made him cramp and vomit on the side of the court.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first time that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hitc.com\/topic\/novak-djokovic\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"98471\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Djokovic<\/a> had lost a first-round match at a Grand Slam since the Australian Open 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Tennis fans were not only shocked by the Serbian\u2019s performance but also concerned that he is finished at the highest level.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292773868-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Mariano Navone of Argentina embraces Novak Djokovic of Serbia after their Men's Singles First Round match\" \/>Photo by Julian Finney\/Getty Images\u2018Really sad\u2019 tennis fans react to Novak Djokovic\u2019s US Open defeat<\/p>\n<p>Novak Djokovic is the last man standing of the \u2018Big Three\u2019 after the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.<\/p>\n<p>However, many tennis fans now believe that Djokovic will soon join them after his crushing defeat at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hitc.com\/topic\/us-open-tennis\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"99564\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">US Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The 39-year-old is widely considered the greatest male tennis player ever, but he is clearly not at the level he once was.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic was even brought to tears during his first-round match against Navone, suggesting that he had accepted his fate.<\/p>\n<p>MORE US OPEN TENNIS STORIES<\/p>\n<p>A tennis fan reacted: \u201cThis is tough to watch. Djokovic is a colossus. An all-time great athlete who has created an unmatched legacy. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese tears are probably the manifestation of the grim reality he will have to accept. Reminder for all of us fans: behind the veneer is a vulnerable human.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another replied: \u201cI feel like I just watched Novak Djokovic steadily come to terms with the end of his career over the course of one singular match. Brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNovak Djokovic is trying not to start crying in the middle of the match. It\u2019s heartbreaking to see him like this,\u201d a third said.<\/p>\n<p>A heartfelt message read: \u201cI love Novak Djokovic more than I love certain family members, but\u2026 It\u2019s time. It\u2019s impossible to defeat Father Time at 39 in such a physically and mentally taxing sport. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt sucks. It really, really sucks that this time has come, but it truly is time. Djokovic just can\u2019t outlast young players anymore. Sad. Really, really sad to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another added: \u201cIs this how it ends for Novak Djokovic?\u201d hinting that this could be Djokovic\u2019s last Grand Slam match.<\/p>\n<p>Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Novak Djokovic has exited the US Open in the first round after his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,3592,85,747,12741],"class_list":["post-874954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-us-open-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}