PARIS – Matt Ebden knew he had no chance of even tickling Novak Djokovic: “The goal was not to get injured”.
In the eleventh game, with the score 6-0 and 4-0 in favor of the Serb, Ebden connected good serves and thus won his first game. He opened his arms, received a standing ovation from the crowd and lifted the bottom of his shirt to cover his face. Switching heads, he shared with Djokovic a friendly gesture.
“I was thinking about the donuts, you know. The donut emoji. It would have been funny to say goodbye to singles with a zero and zero, but at least I got a game. I had a great time,” the 36-year-old Australian told the media after Djokovic beat him 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the Olympic tournament.
No faith in me for first round? 😂😭
— Matt Ebden (@mattebden) July 25, 2024
It was a sort of training, a nice moment for the Australian, who in the run-up when he found out his luck, joked on social networks. He also received a strict request from his captain Leyton Hewitt not to get injured so as not to compromise his competition in the doubles, where he is a medal contender.
“I told Novak at the net that I apologized for not giving him more time on court… and that officially that had been my retirement from singles. I’m experienced enough to know what was coming,” he explained.
Whys a doubles specialist, who last won a singles match in February 2021, is playing against the world number two at the Philippe Chatrier?
The Olympic Games regulations create unthinkable situations for the professional tour. Any drop in singles after Monday 22nd must be replaced by doubles players. Alternates, some tennis players who are top 100, can no longer enter.
pic.twitter.com/gf9pO2B23i
– Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) July 27, 2024
Djokovic does not like the system: “The rule should change. There are players who are at a high level, who are top 100 in singles, and who could make it to the tournament when there are withdrawals. I don’t understand the rule.”
Matt Ebden delivered after the match interesting insights of the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s game: “You feel like you can play the points, but you can’t really win them, whereas playing against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, I won some sets against them and had chances. But against Novak, you feel like you can’t win the point. You can rally, you can have him in all sorts of places, but the ball keeps coming back, and yes, his strokes are obviously great.”
Said Ebden, who the only preparation he had with a side of the court to himself alone was a tiebreak the day before. Situations that happen only in Olympic tennis.
