Source :- THE AGE NEWS
An ailing and tearful Novak Djokovic has suffered a shock first-round defeat at the US Open, losing at that stage of a grand slam for the first time in two decades.
The 39-year-old grand slam legend showed signs of being physically compromised as early as the opening set – which he lost – but still managed to win the second and third sets, and was up a break in the fourth before everything changed.
Unheralded Argentinian Mariano Navone was responsible for Djokovic’s early exit, outlasting the 24-time major champion 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 across more than four-and-a-half hours on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic’s last first-round defeat at a grand slam was at the 2006 Australian Open. He said he considered retiring, but committed to playing on once he won the second and third sets.
“I think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me,” Djokovic said.
“It’s something that I’ve been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year – vomiting, throwing up, a serious issue there, then my whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. The back just gave up in the end and [right] shoulder, and I couldn’t close it out.
“I was a break up in the fourth, but just struggled all the way since the fourth game of the match. Again, I don’t want to take too much out of his win. Congrats to him. He’s a nice guy, a fighter, but I didn’t enjoy myself.”
This tournament was viewed as a gilt-edged opportunity for him to claim an unprecedented 25th grand slam singles title without Jannik Sinner (knee) in the draw and Carlos Alcaraz (wrist) playing for the first time since April. But not even the great Novak Djokovic can deny Father Time.
He will drop outside the top 10 for the first time since mid-2018.
Djokovic was violently ill at the back of the court after the sixth game of the third set and struggled with a lower back issue throughout the match, which he sought treatment for after losing the fourth set.
However, it was immediately obvious that the medical timeout between sets would not trigger a miraculous fightback when Djokovic sent down a first-serve fault at barely 162km/h, almost 30km/h slower than his typical delivery.
He dropped serve minutes later to go 2-0 down and could never recover, cutting a forlorn and anguished figure as Navone’s inevitable victory excruciatingly played out. At one stage, Djokovic lost 18 of 21 points overlapping the fourth and fifth sets as he grimaced each time he moved.
Tears welled up in Djokovic’s eyes as his dramatic departure neared. By the end, he was rolling in serves and mostly attempting drop shots to keep points short while clearly being determined to complete the match.
“It’s amazing the way we play. I mean, five sets against the GOAT [greatest of all-time] … I’m very happy. I don’t know what I can say,” Navone said on court afterwards.
“It’s unbelievable, and means a lot to me. I think it’s almost 12 o’clock [midnight, New York time], so we have to go to sleep.”
Djokovic will have regrets that it came to this, given he also led Navone 3-0 and 4-1 in the opening set, on top of his 2-1 break advantage in the fourth.
He has consistently stated he plans to continue his peerless career until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Australian wildcard Preston scores ‘special’ US Open win
Taylah Preston has capped her rapid rise to the world’s top 100 and ended Australia’s barren start to the US Open with a second grand slam match win this year.
The 20-year-old wildcard backed up winning for the first time in a major at the Australian Open in January with a mature 6-3, 6-3 victory over big-hitting American Alycia Parks on Monday (AEST).
“It’s really special,” said Preston, who was outside the top 200 in January. “I’m glad that my first grand slam win was in Australia, but hopefully, I can keep winning rounds at all the slams – not just at home.”
There might be a dearth of men’s prospects in Australia beyond Cruz Hewitt, but Preston is part of a youth-led uprising on the women’s side, alongside Maya Joint, Talia Gibson and Emerson Jones.
Preston, who made her top-100 debut last week and is up to No.89 in the live rankings, was the sole victor on a challenging first day for Australians. Gibson, Adam Walton and Storm Hunter exited in the opening round, while two other Australians, Aleks Vukic and Kim Birrell, also face going out early.
Vukic trailed Japan’s former world junior No.1 Rei Sakamoto, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 3-6, 4-3 (Sakamoto was 30-15 on serve), when rain caused officials to suspend play. Birrell is a set down and locked at three-all in the second-set tiebreaker with Croatia’s Petra Marcinko.
Coached by Brett Hunter and Ash Barty’s former mentor Craig Tyzzer, Preston overcame deficits in each set to eliminate Parks in her second main draw appearance in New York.
The West Australian wriggled out of a 0-40 hole in the third game before riding a break in the fifth game to a one-set advantage over Parks, whose waywardness contrasted greatly with Preston’s composed play.
However, an aggressive crosscourt backhand secured Parks an instant break in the second set as she tried to lift in front of her home fans.
Parks had a game point on serve for a 3-0 lead, but repeatedly was her own worst enemy, whether double-faulting, spraying shots wide or long, or fluffing straightforward volleys. It was the latter that saw Parks gift Preston the break back in the second set.
Preston had to dig deep after double-faulting to slip to 15-30 at two-all, but her emotions never wavered.
Parks called for the trainer to have the strapping on her right shoulder readjusted, but it did not help her cause. Another double fault from the American on break point in the next game put Preston on the brink of victory – and the world No.100 completed the job.
Preston hit only eight winners compared to Parks’ 22, but committed 20 fewer unforced errors.
Earlier, Gibson threatened to cause an upset before losing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to Croatian Donna Vekic.
Gibson, 22, has experienced a breakout year, earning a Billie Jean King Cup call-up and storming into the top 100 for the first time after a blistering few weeks at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters events, where she eliminated five top-20 stars.
She even briefly became Australia’s top-ranked woman, but found herself a set and 4-1 down to Vekic – by a double-break deficit – in an error-strewn start before staging a mid-match revival.
Vekic’s serving woes helped open the door as Gibson claimed 10 points in a row to grab one of the breaks back, hold serve, then reduce the former top-20 star to 0-30 in the eighth game, which turned into an enthralling back and forth.
Eventually, an increasingly agitated Vekic wilted, delivering her sixth double fault overall and fourth in the second set to leave the set tied at four-all. Another Vekic double fault two games later sent the match to a decider.
Everything seemed to be going Gibson’s way when she escaped from 0-40 in the opening game of the final set with some excellent first serves.
Her big opportunity came in the ensuing minutes.
Vekic began spraying even the easiest of shots, offering two break points to Gibson that could have split open the match. Instead, Gibson let her off the hook with some loose errors, which became an unfortunate theme.
Vekic finally made it out of the game on a mishit backhand that snuck inside the sideline and evaded Gibson’s racquet.
The stroke of fortune emboldened the Croatian, who secured the break on her third chance in Gibson’s next service game.
Gibson brought up two consecutive break points to get back to three-all, only to again bail Vekic out as her last opportunities came and went.
“It’s a hard one to swallow,” Gibson said.
“Most of the time it’s who makes the most unforced errors on the court who comes away with the loss, and today that was me, so it’s just something to learn from.”
Hunter qualified for a grand slam main draw for the sixth time in her career, but was no match for Marta Kostyuk, the No.11 seed.
Kostyuk breezed past Hunter 6-4, 6-1, while China’s Wu Yibing thumped 43 winners in downing Walton 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 7-5.
Among those to advance were 2024 runner-up Jessica Pegula, 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev and seeds Elina Svitolina, Tommy Paul, Jasmine Paolini, Jiri Lehecka, Leylah Fernandez, Arthur Rinderknech, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
However, dual grand slam winner Barbora Krejcikova lost 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova, and Brit Cam Norrie bowed out 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to Frenchman Luca Van Assche.
with AAP
