Open to deliver a stunner, as 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic

Open to deliver a stunner, as 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, his body failing him, stunningly bowed out in the first round. Just as it did at Roland Garros three months ago, Djokovic’s uncharacteristic early loss at a major invited plenty of questions about his future, particularly given how laborious the four-hour, 36-minute match was for the 39-year-old.

Share on X Add us as a preferred source It didn’t take long for the 2026 U.S. To be clear, Djokovic’s ousting makes life easier for the returning Carlos Alcaraz, as well as No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev, each of whom has been thwarted by Djokovic at majors in the past.

To that end, he’s the only man in the top 10 outside of Djokovic, Alcaraz, Zverev and Jannik Sinner to win a major. Tiafoe is one of the hopefuls looking to end a 23-year major title drought for American men.

After rolling to the Cincinnati final on the heels of four top-20 wins, Tiafoe is seemingly peaking at the right time and poised to benefit from a Djokovic-free quarter. It’s no surprise that Shelton, one of the biggest servers and hitters from the baseline on the tour, has fared best on the hard courts, where he’s advanced to the semifinal at the U.S.

It was Djokovic who once left Shelton’s 2023 U.S. All due respect to Taylor Fritz, an 11-time singles title winner and top-10 player, but his clashes with Djokovic have been akin to the relationship a feline has with the pesky household rodent.

Djokovic has beaten Fritz in all 11 of their meetings. Open run—he advanced to the final two years ago—came when Djokovic bowed out in the third round.

There are potential land mines in Fritz’s draw in the form of French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli, 2025 U.S. But should Fritz manage to navigate his way to the final once again, he at least needn’t worry that the previously unbeatable Djokovic will be waiting for him.