Novak Djokovic Dominates Matthew Ebden in Olympic Opener

Novak Djokovic began his quest for an Olympic gold medal in style, defeating Matthew Ebden 6-0 6-1.

Serbia’s Djokovic has won practically everything in tennis, but he has yet to surpass his bronze medal from Beijing 2008.

He required only 53 minutes to defeat Australia’s Ebden, who was playing his first singles match in two years.

Novak Djokovic’s Impressive Olympic Debut

Ebden, on the other hand, won over the audience with his self-effacing attitude to what was happening on the court.

Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam winner and the top seed in Paris, might meet long-time rival Rafael Nadal next.

Later this week, Spain’s Rafael Nadal will face Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in singles play.

Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon winner, also advanced quickly, defeating Lebanon’s Hady Habib 6-3 6-1.

Ebden, a doubles player, understood he was up against one of the most difficult challenges in tennis, as evidenced by his social media message on the day of the draw.- External

And it was exactly as he had feared: after 30 minutes, he was 6-0, 2-0 behind and appeared to have run out of ideas.

He tried everything, including an underarm serve that Djokovic retrieved, before sarcastically presenting his racket to a group in the audience to see if they could do better.

The greatest cheer of the afternoon came when Ebden eventually scored 4-1 in the second set.

Ebden slipped his shirt over his head and celebrated in front of the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation, before an amused Novak Djokovic clapped him on the shoulder as they returned to their seats.

Novak Djokovic may have longed for more difficult opponents to help him find his footing on the court, but he will relish a quick victory nevertheless.

There was no play on the outer courts on Saturday, so British players Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, and Katie Boulter had to wait an extra day to start their singles campaigns.

Source: BBC