There has a lot of speculation over the last couple of weeks that we have possibly seen the end of 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic. That is because of what we have seen from Djokovic lately against Argentinians. In the second round of the Cincinnati Open, Djokovic lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Thiago Agustin Tirante. Then in the first round of the 2026 United States Open, Djokovic lost 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to Mariano Navone.
At age 39, there is no doubt that Djokovic is facing Father Time. He is simply not the player we once saw. Remember we are talking about a player who has won an amazing 10 Australian Opens.
In New York, one needs to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was simply not feeling well against Navone. It was apparently an illness, but we also know that there was a strange smell in the air at Arthur Ashe Stadium throughout the tournament that forced women’s star Aryna Sabalenka to voice a complaint.
With the loss to Navone, Djokovic dropped in the ATP World Rankings. He is no longer in the top 10, and sits in 12th place.
However, my general feeling is that Djokovic is not done. He was a grand slam finalist in 2026. The player who beat him was Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. Djokovic is also the defending Olympic gold medalist from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Over the years, Djokovic has been extremely patriotic to his home country of Serbia, and my feeling is he will try to do what Andy Murray did a decade ago, and that is to win back-to-back gold medals in the south California heat.
