With tears filling his eyes and his body failing beneath him, you couldn’t help but feel Sunday’s US Open defeat marked a pivotal moment in Novak Djokovic’s career.
The first-round defeat to Mariano Navone was not only Djokovic’s worst grand slam result in 20 years, but also one of the few times the Serbian looked vulnerable on a tennis court. His step no longer looked assured, his body appeared stiff and his warrior mentality finally breached.
This defeat felt different; it felt more final.
It’s important to remember that only seven months ago, the 24-time grand slam champion was playing in the Australian Open final. The 39-year-old was busy defying the odds and seemed the only man capable of laying a glove on the new generation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Reaching the semifinal at Wimbledon in July also gave Djokovic hope of one day winning that record-breaking 25th major singles title.
Now, though, achieving that goal looks as unlikely as ever.
