Novak Djokovic vomited on court, lost in five sets on day one and left Flushing Meadows in tears. Felix Auger-Aliassime went out in the second round complaining of dizziness. Taylor Fritz led Francisco Cerundolo by two sets in the third round and still lost. Rafael Jodar, the 12th seed, was beaten in round one by a lucky loser, Bu Yunchaokete — the first time in the Open era that a lucky loser has taken out a top-15 seed in the opening round at the US Open.
By the time Sunday’s fourth-round matches were done, six of the men’s top 10 seeds had been eliminated. On the other side of the site, the women’s top six seeds had come through the first three rounds without losing a match between them.
Alexander Blockx, the Belgian who removed fifth seed Flavio Cobolli in round three, offered the simplest explanation after reaching the last 16. “We’re all human. We’re not robots. Every week is difficult,” he said. “Especially in a Grand Slam, everything becomes even more physical. It’s the last one of the year, and mentally you have to stay within the tournament.”
A top 10 dismantled inside a week
The casualty list is unusually senior. Djokovic, seeded fourth, lost 7-6 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-1 to Mariano Navone in four hours 36 minutes, ending a run of 78 consecutive first-round wins at majors and delivering his earliest Grand Slam exit in two decades. Arthur Fils, the 10th seed, also fell on day one. Auger-Aliassime, a semi-finalist here 12 months ago, was beaten in four sets by Karen Khachanov. Alex de Minaur, the sixth seed, lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in round two — the Dutchman’s second scalp of a top-10 player at this tournament in three years.
The fourth round trimmed the list further. Frances Tiafoe beat seventh seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(1) 6-4 7-6(6), and Ben Shelton needed only one hour 52 minutes to dismiss Stefanos Tsitsipas, a former world number three now unseeded, 6-2 6-3 6-4 without facing a break point. Lorenzo Musetti, Brandon Nakashima and Andrey Rublev had already gone in round two; Cameron Norrie and Matteo Arnaldi in round one.
Even the survivors have suffered. Alexander Zverev, the top seed in Jannik Sinner’s absence, spent nine hours 26 minutes on court winning his first two matches in five sets, including a comeback against Lorenzo Sonego, before finally finding some rhythm against Alejandro Tabilo.
Why the men’s draw broke and the women’s did not
Part of it is calendar. New York closes a season that begins in Australia in January, and the heat and humidity of the first week punished players already carrying accumulated load. Djokovic’s physical collapse and Auger-Aliassime’s dizziness were not coincidences.
The larger factor is psychological. Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have won 10 of the last 11 Grand Slam titles between them, and the effect on everyone below has been corrosive. Fritz has spoken about the “emptiness” he would feel retiring without a major. Zverev has described being unable to sleep or eat during Slams because of nerves. When two players have set the bar that high, the chasing group arrives at each major carrying the weight of a result it has never produced.
The women’s tour has the opposite problem, and it works in its favour. Aryna Sabalenka beat Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-3 to reach a sixth straight US Open quarter-final; Jessica Pegula saw off Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-4; Linda Noskova came through 7-5 5-7 6-4 against Marta Kostyuk. Eleven of the top 16 seeds reached the fourth round. As Pat Cash has argued, women’s tennis is deep enough that anyone can win, which paradoxically means the favourites are not playing under the shadow of a duopoly.
What it means from here
Alcaraz, the defending champion, has looked the most convincing man in the draw and now meets Shelton in the quarter-finals — the eighth seed and the second seed, and the only two members of the original top 10 to reach that stage on their side of the draw. Tiafoe is through, and so is the unseeded Alex Michelsen, who beat 27th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6(6) 6-4 6-4.
The consequences are worth spelling out:
- Alcaraz is the overwhelming favourite, but the draw has already proved that seeding guarantees nothing here.
- A first-time American men’s Grand Slam champion — the first since Andy Roddick in 2003 — is a live possibility with Shelton, Tiafoe and Michelsen still in.
- Ranking points shed by Djokovic, Auger-Aliassime, de Minaur and Fritz will reshape the race to the ATP Finals in Turin.
Blockx’s line was not an excuse. It was a description of a men’s tour where the physical demand and the psychological ceiling have arrived at the same moment — and where, for the next week at least, the title is genuinely open.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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