US Open: Who is Mariano Navone, the Argentine who stunned Novak Djokovic?

Mariano Navone stunned 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the US Open first round, securing the biggest victory of his career. The 25-year-old Argentine, primarily a clay-court player, produced a landmark performance to eliminate the fourth seed

New York: Mariano Navone might have won his first ATP Tour title in April 2026 and defeated the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Casper Ruud, but not many would have backed him to beat 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the first round of the 2026 US Open.

Navone staged a massive upset in New York, handing fourth-seeded Djokovic his first opening-round loss at Flushing Meadows, where the Serbian was making his 20th appearance and had played in 10 finals.

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The victory marked a historic milestone in the 25-year-old’s career, particularly for a player who has been more successful on clay than hard courts. He has a career win-loss record of 44-32 on clay, compared with 12-29 on hard courts.

The Argentine captured his first ATP Tour title on the clay courts of the 2026 Bucharest Open, where he defeated Daniel Merida Aguilar, but had to save two match points in the semifinal against Botic van de Zandschulp.

His win over Djokovic, whom he considers one of his idols, was one of the biggest moments of his career, although the Argentine star has defeated several other top players as well.

Navone had earlier defeated No. 5 seed Auger-Aliassime in the round of 64 at the BNP Paribas Arena to reach the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.

Navone has also got the better of No. 17 Casper Ruud in the Geneva Open semifinal. Ruud was a three-time Geneva Open winner. In addition, Navone achieved a career-high ranking of No. 29 after winning his sixth Challenger title in Cagliari in June 2024.

He has played in the main draw of every Grand Slam and was the first man in the Open Era to be seeded on his Grand Slam main-draw debut. He was the No. 31 seed when he made his Major debut at the 2024 French Open, where he defeated former World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round.

He also reached the second round of the 2025 Australian Open, where he defeated England’s Jack Draper, who later became World No. 4 in June that year.

The win over Djokovic marks his greatest triumph to date, and Navone was thrilled to have faced and defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

“It’s amazing. The way we played, five sets against the GOAT,” Navone said, as quoted by the ATP. “I’m very happy. I don’t know, what can I say?”

“It’s unbelievable. It means a lot to me,” Navone said of facing Djokovic for the first time. “It’s a dream come true, I mean seriously, 100 per cent. Now I have to recover. I think it’s almost 12 o’clock, so we have to go to sleep.”