Novak Djokovic had a US Open to forgot as he was beaten in the first round by Mariano Navone.
The Serbian entered the Grand Slam as one of the favourites to win, particularly after Jannik Sinner’s withdrawals, but he became unstuck in a five set battle against the Argentine.
It was the first opening round exit at a Grand Slam since the Australian Open in 2006, when he was beaten by Paul Goldstein at the age of 19.
Rumours are swirling around Djokovic’s future in the sport, particularly due to his teary words in his post match press conference in New York.
“When it comes to the match itself, and the overall feeling of how I felt with my body and playing, it was really not enjoyable,” Djokovic said following his defeat to Navone.
However, mere hours after Djokovic’s early US Open exit and he has already appeared to sign up to his next tournament.
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Djokovic is on the entry list for the China Open, which begins on September 28th, alongside the likes of Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Serbian has won the Chinese tournament a record six times, but he has not played the ATP 500 event since the 2015 season, when he lifted the trophy for the last time.
Djokovic dominated the tournament in the 2010s, winning the event six times in seven years between 2009 and 2015. He did not play the tournament in 2011 either, when Tomas Berdych won the tournament, so he has been perfect at the ATP event.
The Serbian has won 29 matches at the ATP 500 tournament without picking up a single loss, so perhaps he sees the event as the perfect place to try and get back on track.
Djokovic has enjoyed a worrying time of it over the summer since losing to Sinner in the semi finals of Wimbledon in July.
He was beaten in his opening round match at the Cincinnati Open against Thiago Agustin Tirante and he followed it up with his first round defeat at the US Open.
Djokovic only played two ATP Tour tournaments following the US Open in the 2025 season, at the Shanghai Masters and the Hellenic Championships in Athens.
Outside of the China Open, the only other tournament Djokovic has signed up for in 2026 is the Six King Slams, the Saudi Arabia exhibition broadcast on Netflix in October.
Djokovic will play the event alongside Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Zverev, and Alex de Minaur, with the tournament beginning on October 21st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The post Novak Djokovic signs up for tennis tournament immediately after US Open exit appeared first on Tennis365.
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