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Sports · US Open 2026 · Men's Singles · Round of 64
Matteo Berrettini vs 
Mariano Navone
Round of 64
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My pick: Matteo Berrettini to advance · locked 2026-09-01 01:20 UTCPrediction
Berrettini, narrowly, and the qualifier is the four hours and thirty-six minutes in Navone's legs. Navone beat Novak Djokovic on Sunday night from two sets to one down, in a match Djokovic spent being sick courtside — a career result by any measure, and one that required him to win the last two sets 6-2 6-1 against a man who had not lost a Grand Slam opener in twenty years. Berrettini's own Monday was long but never desperate: two tiebreaks and then a bagel against Stan Wawrinka's farewell, 5 of 7 break points converted, 44 winners, and a first serve that reached 140 mph. The complication is the head-to-head. Berrettini leads it 2-1, but both his wins were on clay and the one hard-court meeting went to Navone four weeks ago in Montreal, 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3. Navone is 13-34 on hard courts for his career, which is the strongest single argument in this match and the reason the split is not closer; but he has now beaten Djokovic on one, so the record is a description of the past rather than a prediction.
The case for Matteo Berrettini
60% to winBerrettini was a semi-finalist here in 2019 and is 113-91 on hard courts; on Monday he faced twelve break points and gave up two, took five of his own seven, and won the last nine games of the match. He is 6′5″ with a serve that produced thirteen aces at up to 140 mph, and he has two days more freshness than a man who played four and a half hours on Sunday night. He has also beaten Navone twice.
The case for Mariano Navone
40% to winNavone has just beaten Novak Djokovic at a Grand Slam, from a set down, and he did it by getting better as the match went longer — 6-2 6-1 in the last two sets. He also owns the only hard-court meeting between these two, 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 in Montreal four weeks ago, so the surface argument that his 13-34 career record makes has already been contradicted once this month. Berrettini is 15-14 for the season and beat a 41-year-old wild card; the level he showed is not yet evidence.
Both cases written 2026-09-01, before the first ball — frozen into the record exactly as written, whatever the result. The percentages are mine — opinions with a percent sign on. They add to 100 because tennis has no draw to hide the rounding in.
Tale of the tape
Matteo BerrettiniMariano NavonePlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-08-28.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-31.
The briefing
Storylines
- Navone knocked out the fourth seed Novak Djokovic 7-6(5) 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-1 in 4 hours 36 minutes, winning the last two sets for the loss of three games.
- Berrettini beat Stan Wawrinka 7-6(4) 7-6(3) 6-0 in the last Grand Slam match of the Swiss's career, converting five of seven break points to Wawrinka's two of twelve.
- Navone won their only hard-court meeting four weeks ago, 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 in the Montreal first round; Berrettini's two wins over him were both on clay.
- Navone's career hard-court record is 13-34; Berrettini's is 113-91, with a US Open semi-final in 2019.
- Navone spent 4 hours 36 minutes on court on Sunday night; Berrettini 2 hours 54 on Monday.
Head to head
Berrettini leads 2-1, but Navone took the most recent meeting and the only one on a hard court — 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 in the Montreal first round in August 2026. Berrettini's wins came on clay at Monte Carlo in 2025 and in the Marrakech semi-final in 2024.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-31.
Watch: Second-round coverage runs across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, with ESPN Deportes in Spanish — and every court streams in the ESPN app, which is where a match away from the two show courts will live. (ESPN press-room release and listings, as of 2026-08-27)
Court & schedule: Not yet assigned. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before, and this match has not reached the board yet. (Official US Open order-of-play release cadence, as of 2026-08-31)
Weather: Rain is the story of the week's opening, and it is forecast to get worse before it clears. Showers and thunderstorms are likely overnight — 72% under a low near 72°F — and Tuesday is the worst day on the board: near 81°F with storms likely through the day, 67%, and again after dark at 64%. Wednesday is the break in it, near 76°F on a 26% chance of showers, with a slight chance of storms returning overnight; Thursday is warm and unsettled again, near 84°F on 53%. Friday is the first clean day of the fortnight — near 82°F and mostly sunny after an early 15%. Ashe and Armstrong close their roofs and play on; everything else waits. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-08-31)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.
At this Stage
The Round of 64 is where a Grand Slam draw stops being a lottery and becomes a tournament. Sixty-four men's matches opened the bracket; thirty-two across Wednesday and Thursday halve what is left, and everyone still here has already won on these courts. Seeds who came through the first round now meet opponents carrying form rather than a ranking.
Round of 128
Round of 32