Matthew Ebden didn’t anticipate a protracted keep towards Novak Djokovic of their Olympic first-round match on Saturday, and his prediction proved correct.
The 36-year-old Australian doubles specialist was dispatched 6-0, 6-1 by the highest seed in simply 53 minutes, leaving Djokovic questioning why Ebden was competing in singles.
After dropping the primary eight video games, Ebden humorously supplied his racket to a fan at Court Philippe Chatrier.
His second of triumph got here when he earned the loudest cheer of the match by profitable a recreation at 4-0 down within the second set.
Three-time Grand Slam doubles champion Ebden, who will contend for a doubles medal in Paris alongside John Peers, was positioned within the singles draw solely after a raft of main singles gamers withdrew because of sickness or harm, together with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Ebden posted a humorous message on Instagram after Thursday’s draw pitted him towards the 24-time Grand Slam champion for the primary time in his profession.
But the 37-year-old Djokovic questioned why he confronted a participant who had not competed in a top-level singles match for 2 years.
“There were a lot of singles players that had plenty of time, there were alternates that could have been told to come,” Djokovic, bidding for his first Olympic title, informed reporters. “So this part I don’t get, and I really hope that the ITF along with the Olympics will consider changing this rule because it’s tough on Matthew.”
“He told me it’s been over two years since he played an official singles match and he said this was his last singles match; he’s officially retired. So, as I said, it’s not a great feeling for him being on the court like that.”
The International Tennis Federation negotiated with the International Olympic Committee to increase the deadline for adjustments to its entry lists till July 19 — later than most different sports activities within the Games.
But with prime seed Sinner, Andy Murray, and Holger Rune all pulling out of the singles, the choices for replacements have been restricted to doubles specialists already in Paris.
“Tennis is one of 32 sports at the Olympic Games, and with 10,500 athletes and 206 National Olympic Committees, it’s logistically extremely difficult, and there has to be a cut-off point for off-site replacements,” an ITF spokesperson mentioned.
Spanish second seed Carlos Alcaraz, who additionally confronted a straightforward opener towards Lebanese alternate 275th-ranked Hady Habib, was additionally left questioning why Ebden was taking part in singles.
“I think it should be different because if the next single player decides to be here, if someone withdraws from the tournament, the rules are the rules, we have to follow it,” the 21-year-old French Open and Wimbledon champion mentioned. “But it’s a shame that Matteo Berrettini couldn’t play here.”
Italian former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini was under the rating cutoff for entry into the singles on June 10.
Source: www.dailysabah.com