He is the first American man to defeat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open despite never cracking the top 50

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Novak Djokovic has played his best-ever tennis at the Australian Open, where he has been unstoppable.

The star has won 10 Australian Open titles across his incredible career, which is a record at the Grand Slam.

Djokovic is expected to challenge at the Australian Open in 2026 as he looks to dislodge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s dominance at the top.

The Serbian has lost just 10 times at the tournament, and the first American man – Paul Goldstein – did so without ever cracking the top 50 of the rankings.

Paul Goldstein inflicted Novak Djokovic’s second loss at the Australian Open

Djokovic failed to win his first two matches at the Australian Open, first falling to Marat Safin in the first round in 2005.

A year later, and Djokovic saw his campaign ended at the same stage of the tournament by American, Goldstein.

Goldstein beat the future Grand Slam champion in four sets, but their careers were very different afterwards.

While Djokovic went on to dominate the sport for decades, Goldstein never cracked the top 50 of the ATP Tour rankings.

The American reached a career-high of World No. 58 in April 2006, and he never got past the third round of a Grand Slam.

Players to defeat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open

Goldstein is in elite company after picking up a victory against Djokovic at the first Grand Slam of the season.

The star joins the likes of Safin, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, and Jannik Sinner, all of whom have reached world number one in the rankings.

Hyeong Chung and Dennis Istomin are the biggest surprises on the list, having stunned Djokovic at the height of his powers in 2017 and 2018.

In recent years, Djokovic has tasted defeat at the tournament to Sinner and Alexander Zverev, the latter who beat him in the semi-final after he had dispatched Alcaraz in the last eight.