Novak Djokovic has no understanding for his opponent's choice. © APA/afp / PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA

Djokovic with heavy criticism, opponent gives up racket

Tennis star Novak Djokovic has been critical of the scheduling of the Olympic tennis tournament in Roland Garros following his 6-0,6, 1-XNUMX victory over the overwhelmed Australian Matthew Ebden. His opponent, meanwhile, is drawing consequences.

July 28, 2024

From: apa/fop

The top-seeded Serb asked why he was playing against a player who had not played a singles match at the highest level for two years. Doubles player Ebden had slipped into the singles main draw after several withdrawals, although he had not played a singles match for a long time.

"There were a lot of singles players who had a lot of time. There were substitutes who could have been told to come on," Djokovic said Saturday evening in Paris. "I don't understand that part and I really hope that the ITF and the Olympics consider changing that rule because it was tough for Matthew. He told me it's been over two years since he played an official singles match," said the 24-time Grand Slam winner. "It's not a nice feeling for him to be on the court like that."

This is how Matthew-Ebden celebrated after his first and only game win. © ANSA / DIVYAKANT SOLANKI

Ebden had jokingly offered his racket to a fan after losing the first eight games against Djokovic on Court Phillipe-Chatrier. After the match, the Australian said that his singles career was over.

The International Tennis Federation ITF had negotiated with the IOC to extend the deadline for changing the entry lists to July 19 - later than for most other sports at the Games. However, since top seed Jannik Sinner, Andy Murray and Holger Rune had cancelled their participation at short notice, the selection of substitute players was limited to the doubles specialists already present in Paris.

Flood of cancellations continues

The next cancellation came on Sunday. Australian Alex de Minaur withdrew from the tournament due to a hip injury he sustained at Wimbledon. "I tried to do my best to be ready for the singles, but the body still needs a bit of time," the world number six said on Instagram on Sunday.