The US Open tennis tournament got a proper 1st round shock, as Novak Djokovic of Serbia was knocked out in the first round against Mariano Navone.
The tennis world was shocked in the opening round of this year's US Open, as
Novak Djokovic was knocked out in almost historic fashion. The 39-year old Serbian lost out to Argentina's
Mariano Navone after a five-set affair with a scoreline of 3-2 (7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1).
This was the first time in 20 years that Djokovic has been forced to exit a Grand Slam tournament in the first round. We have to go as far back as 2006 and the Australian Open for the last instance of a similar caliber, when
Paul Goldstein was the man responsible of defeating him early on.
Fifth in the world rankings, Novak seemed to have it all under control as he led Navone 2-1. However, 39 is no spring chicken, and the Serbian's body decided to throw a spanner in the works.
Djokovic suffered from immense back pain and also vomited twice across the match. The Serbian just couldn't keep up with Navone in the final two sets, and the world rank 45th took the match 3-2.
- I don't want to take anything away from Mariano's victory. Congratulations to him, he's a nice guy and a real fighter, but I myself couldn't enjoy playing.
- I think it's clear to everyone, how bad I was feeling on the court today, Djokovic told the crowd after the match.
The Serbian also said that this has been a reccuring problem across the season, with plenty of similar issues in other matches as well.
Unfortunately I've had to suffer from it in almost every match this year. I throw up, and that's definitely a big problem. Afterwards it feels like my whole body is breaking down - I'll get cramps and pains. I just couldn't finish the match properly.
– Valitettavasti olen joutunut kärsimään siitä käytännössä jokaisessa ottelussa tänä vuonna. Oksennan, ja se on suuri ongelma. Sen jälkeen käytännössä koko kehoni alkaa pettää – saan kramppeja ja kipuja. En pystynyt viemään ottelua loppuun.
Due to the defeat Novak's opportunity to chase a 25th Grand Slam -title at the
US Open comes to an end in the opening round. On the other hand for Navone this was one of the highlights of his career.
- This was really hard for me, since I was playing against the GOAT (Greatest of all time). Without a doubt this was the biggest thing I've experienced on a tennis court. It's a fantastic arena and the biggest stage of them all, the Argentinian celebrated.
Source:
BBC 
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