The end comes for everyone, even Novak Djokovic. When it comes in tennis, there’s nowhere to hide.
On Sunday the 39-year-old Serbian champion fell on the opening night of the U.S. Open, losing to the unseeded Argentine Mariano Navone, 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
On a steamy evening in New York where he was the main attraction and the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium was closed for passing rain, Djokovic physically wilted, unable to summon the sorcery that made him the winner of 24 major tournament titles.
After spotting Navone the first set in a tiebreak, Djokovic rallied to take a two sets to one lead. It felt like a familiar reset—the wizard finding a way. Then Djokovic let Navone turn the match back around.
In the fifth set—the scene of so many Djokovic comebacks—Djokovic could do little more than sleepwalk. He briefly turned emotional when the crowd tried to rally behind a four-time Open champ who’s so obviously battling his tennis mortality.
What happens from here? Djokovic gets asked this question with every major exit since the last major he won, which was this tournament, three years ago. He’s said he’ll continue to play as long as he enjoys it, but he can’t be enjoying this very much.
Not only has the gap widened between Djokovic and elite stars like Alcaraz and Sinner, but he’s become vulnerable to up-and-comers like Navone, a 25-year-old clay court specialist who had yet to win a five-set match.
Bravo to Navone, of course. But Djokovic surely doesn’t love having his defeats turn into other people’s career mountaintops.
That said, Djokovic’s 2026 résumé is far from embarrassing. A defeat in the Australian Open final to Alcaraz. A prideful third-round exit to phenom Joao Fonseca in Paris. A semifinal loss at Wimbledon to eventual champ Sinner.
Not terrible for 39. It would be a career year for the vast majority of pros. Whether it’s enough to keep Djokovic training, suffering and sacrificing is unclear.
His elastic body needs work in the lab. Djokovic’s strokes lack the ferocity of his prime, which is no surprise. It’s the deterioration of his endurance that’s most concerning. Stamina has always been Djokovic’s superpower, his ability to escape deficits and outlast opponents by dragging them deeper into a match.
Sunday should have been another example. It was the sort of grinding, four-plus hour match Djokovic perpetually found a way to win.
Instead, as Navone raised his game, Djokovic faded away. With his family sitting courtside, he seemed ready to go home. His goose was cooked. It grew hard to watch.
This is how it happens. Nobody’s greatness extends forever. The sport just finished off a week-long celebration fiesta for Roger Federer leading into his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
It feels strange, seeing Fed as a retired statesman, playing an old-timer’s hit-and-giggle with pals like Johnny Mac. Old friend Rafael Nadal is already commemorated with a statue outside Roland-Garros.
Can Djokovic’s bronzing be far behind?
This month Amazon released a moody documentary about Djokovic called “The Wolf in Winter,” which tries to explain why he’s still out there hunting. It begins with a very on-the-nose scene of Djokovic howling like a canis lupus.
I’m not sure what’s happening to the wolf, but it is definitely feeling like winter for Djokovic. The clock is ticking, the magic is fading and the comebacks are harder than ever to summon. The greatest to do it now has choices to make.