When Olympic tennis star Matthew Ebden lost badly to Novak Djokovic in the first round of the singles competition at Paris 2024 on Saturday, he requested a fan to take his place.
At Roland-Garros, the site of the storied French Open, the Australian was unable to handle Djokovic, who unleashed a vicious 6-0 bagel before soaring to an early break and a 2-0 lead in the second set in under thirty minutes.
Ebden turned around after dropping his eighth consecutive game in the match, offering his racket to anyone in the audience who would be ready to take his place.
It happened after Ebden controversially tried an underarm serve, which is discouraged in tennis and considered unsportsmanlike. Despite this, Ebden lost the point to Djokovic, who went on to win 6-0 6-1.
After his commanding victory, Djokovic went to Ebden and only murmured, “Sorry man!” He is expected to play Big Three opponent Rafael Nadal in an incredible blockbuster next.
Ebden threw his shirt over his head in an ironic celebration when he finally won his first game of the match late into the second set.
The Aussie is not best known for his skills in singles tennis but he is one of the best doubles players in the entire sport, currently ranked world No.3.
‘Safe to say l’m officially retired from singles after that!’ Ebden said. ‘It was a pleasure to share the court with you Novak for one last singles match on Philippe Chatrier here at the Olympics.
‘All the best for the rest of the tournament (and if it’s not one of our Aussies) I hope you get the [gold medal].’
Ebden has won three Grand Slam titles – two in men’s doubles and the other in mixed doubles – with his most recent triumph at the Australian Open this year.
When it wasn't going Matthew Ebden's way so he asked if any fans wanted to take his place 😅#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/wVd0vbkmpO
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 27, 2024
But he didn’t have enough to test Djokovic, who is desperate to land a gold medal for Serbia, in what is highly likely to be the last Games of his incredible career.
‘Of course, the Olympics are a huge desire of mine, Djokovic said. ‘It’s a unique opportunity, I have a bronze from Beijing 2008.’
Meanwhile, Djokovic has fired a message to the trolls who’d ‘love’ him to enter retirement after the Olympic tennis tournament at Paris 2024.
Novak Djokovic’s path to the gold medal match
Novak Djokovic’s possible path to landing a singles medal at the Paris Olympics:
- Round 1 – Ebden
- Round 2 – Nadal
- Round 3 – Fils
- Quarter-final – Tsitsipas / Baez
- Semi-final – Zverev / Musetti / Fritz
- Final – Alcaraz / Medvedev / Ruud
‘I don’t have retirement close in my mind, to be honest,’ Djokovic, 37, added. ‘Even though I know a lot of people would love me to retire so this era is done.
‘But I think as long as there’s at least one of us left competing, the era is still going.
‘Of course there’s a change of generations. You have Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner, currently they’re our two best players in the world, deservedly… But I’ve been present for the shift of many generations in the last 15 years.’