Djokovic and Sabalenka stunned in US Open mixed doubles debut

Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka have lost their first-round match in the mixed doubles at the US Open.

Djokovic and Sabalenka were beaten 1-4, 4-2, 10-2 to Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova.

Djokovic and Sabalenka will have a small break before getting their US Open singles campaigns underway from August 30.

Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka have suffered an early exit from the US Open mixed doubles, falling 1-4, 4-2, 10-2 to Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova in their opening match.

Djokovic, a 24-time grand slam singles champion, and four-time major winner Sabalenka made a strong start by taking the opening set.

However, Patten and doubles specialist Siniakova hit back to claim the second before dominating the tiebreak to secure a place in the quarterfinals.

Siniakova sealed the upset in style with an ace out wide on match point, ending the tournament hopes of the star-studded pairing.

"In this format we play one bad game and all of a sudden the first set's gone.

"We knew the same could happen in the second, and we played an amazing tiebreak. Kat acing Novak on match point was great."

The mixed doubles championship is once again being staged in the week before the singles main draw, after organisers revamped the format last year to attract more leading singles players by reducing the field and giving the event a standalone slot on the calendar.

The revamped format proved a commercial success in its debut year, drawing sellout crowds and attracting many of the sport's biggest singles names despite criticism from some doubles specialists, who argued it marginalised established pairings.

Italian duo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori went on to retain the title by defeating Iga Świątek and Casper Ruud in last year's final.