After Bowing Early At Cincinnati Open, What’s Next For Djokovic?

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic congratulates Thiago Agustin Tirante (photo: Pam Smith/Wick Photography for Cincinnati Open)

CINCINNATI/WASHINGTON, August 17, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

With Carlos Alcaraz missing in action since April with an injured wrist and Jannik Sinner‘s knee forcing him to sit out the North American hard-court swing as a precaution leading up to the US Open, which begins in less than two weeks, the ATP Masters 1000 event at the Cincinnati Open figured to be wide open for three-time champion Novak Djokovic in his first visit to southern Ohio in three years.

Despite being seeded No. 3 behind No. 1 Alexander Zverev and No. 2 Felix Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic loomed as a pre-tournament favorite on the strength of his winning the title at Cincinnati the last time he played and it was his stepping stone to winning the 2023 US Open title, his 24th major crown, in a memorable five-set victory over Alcaraz.

However, despite starting strong in his opening-round match against Thiago Agustin Tirante on Saturday afternoon, the 50th-ranked Argentine rallied as the match grew longer and by the end of the two-hour, 44-minute tussle, the 39-year-old Djokovic found himself on the losing end. Tirante won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the third round against No. 67 Martin Landaluce of Spain. Monday afternoon, Tirante kept his hot hand in Cincinnati by defeating Landaluce 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).

Against Djokovic, the 25-year-old Tirante struck 13 aces, hit 40 winners overall and won 88 percent (43 of 49) of his first-serve points. He put a lot of pressure on Djokovic throughout, gaining 15 break-point chances. Although Tirante converted only two of them, he went on to outpoint the Serbian great 100-94. By the conclusion, Tirante had improved to 4-1 against Top-10 opponents and Djokovic’s 2026 win-loss record stood at 14-6.

“I think this is the best win of my career,” Tirante said afterward. “I think I really did a good job inside the court. I managed very well the nerves of playing against a legend like Novak. Now I feel relieved, because it is all so much pressure when you cannot break [serve]. I had so many points to break and I couldn’t, so that was the key, to keep believing in myself with my team and think about it after the match.

“Thinking about my family and my friends that are in Argentina watching me, they are really happy to watch me on TV. They are in Argentina, but they are in my head as well.”

Djokovic, who was playing for the first time since losing in the semifinal round at Wimbledon to Sinner in early July and making his 16th appearance at the Cincinnati Open, struggled physically throughout much of the second-round loss to Tirante. He squatted down and vomited into towels; he crouched over in agony – a victim of the humid conditions. Added up, Djokovic’s ailing body had failed him.

Afterward, during a very brief news conference that lasted about a minute, Djokovic said that a health condition he felt was the result of the Ohio heat and humidity caused him to struggle.

“Congrats to my opponent. It was not an enjoyable match for me, for sure. The way I felt. Not the first and I guess not the last time, but it is what it is,” the three-time Cincinnati titlist Djokovic said, whose career win-loss record in Mason, Ohio is now 45-13. He clarified that his physical malady was an underlying issue that’s he’s been dealing with for a while.

“I did anticipate it [would be humid], but there are all these things, like nerves and everything involved that make it worse, and that’s what happened.”

Djokovic’s loss ended a 10-match winning streak at the Cincinnati Open, after winning titles in his most recent appearances in 2020 and 2023. Now, he’ll get an earlier than expected start to preparing for the US Open. Will he back to play Cincinnati next year? It’s a question Djokovic was asked. His response was revealing. “I certainly hope so, but it looks more likely not, unfortunately. But let’s see what the future brings,” he said.

Around the Cincinnati Open

Along with the surprising upset of Djokovic, there have been plenty of other early-round highs and lows. Among them:

• No. 1 American Ben Shelton arrived at the Cincinnati Open on a six-match winning streak after garnering the Canadian Open title in Montreal last Thursday, defeating Brandon Nakashima in the first all-American ATP Masters 1000 final since 2003 at Cincinnati and joining Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as the only players born in the 2000s to win multiple ATP Masters 1000 titles.

The World No. 6 Shelton opened against 79th-ranked Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria and promptly lost 6-4, 6-4 on P & G Stadium Court in a featured Sunday evening match. It was Faria’s biggest win of his career after going 0-2 against Top-10 competition.

• World No. 10 Taylor Fritz, who began his summer hard-court swing by winning the DC Open title – his biggest title since 2022 – before losing to Thiago Agustin Tirante in the second round at Montreal, advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow American Alex Michelsen, ranked 41st, in an all-Californian battle.

• No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia is one of two former champions left in the draw (along with Alexander Zverev) and he’s safely through to the third round after earning his 100th career ATP Masters 1000 hard-court win, 6-4, 7-5, against 91st-ranked Argentine qualifier Marco Trungelliti. 

• Three-time Cincinnati quarterfinalist and this year’s No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada defeated No. 49 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-3, 7-5, on Sunday. It was his first hard-court match since March, after pulling out of his home event in Montreal last week due to a lower back injury. The victory just the fourth one for Auger-Aliassime in 11 career head-to-head matches against Tsitsipas.

• Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, who is coming off reaching his first ATP 500 final at Washington, D.C., earlier this month, then advancing to the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal last week, is making his P & G Stadium Court debut against No. 22 seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile.

The 19-year-old World No. 11 Jodar, who has already won 35 tour-level matches in his first year on the ATP Tour, rallied from 1-5 down in the deciding set of his second-round match against No. 48 Denis Shapovalov of Canada on Saturday to advance. 

• Finally, World No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who leads the ATP Tour in match wins this season (45) and earlier this year won his first Grand slam title at Roland-Garros, attempts to reach the round of 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the sixth time in seven events this season, when he faces 45th-ranked Frenchman Terence Atmane in a featured Monday evening match on P & G Stadium Court. On Saturday, Zverev advanced with a comeback 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 35 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain.

By the numbers

As the third round got underway at the Cincinnati Open on Monday, there were still 20 of 32 seeded men remaining in the singles draw. No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 8 Ben Shelton are the only Top-10 players who have been eliminated thus far.

“Quotable …”

“In these moments, you got to take it all in and just enjoy. It’s a very emotional moment for me and my team, and to do it here in front of an amazing crowd and against the home player at night and at an amazing venue just makes it a little more special.”

– Qualifier Jaime Faria of Portugal, during his on-court interview Sunday evening after upsetting Montreal champion Ben Shelton of the United States, who was playing his first match after successfully defending his Canadian Open title in Montreal.

 

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