Solely drafted in to the event as a last-minute alternative, Ebden all the time knew it was ‘mission unimaginable’ towards the 24-time Grand Slam winner, however skilled satisfaction for a participant who was as soon as a top-40 performer demanded that he needed to battle to keep away from the final word tennis embarrassment.
As he battled at 6-0 4-0 down, the total home saved roaring him on to interrupt his duck, and Ebden lastly held serve, broke right into a broad smile, stretched his arms out large and pulled his yellow Australia shirt over his head to have a good time.
The reprieve didn’t final lengthy as Djokovic, taking part in in his first match on the courtroom since struggling the knee harm at Roland Garors that required surgical procedure, raced to finish his 6-0 6-1 drubbing in simply 53 minutes.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN 💚💛#AllezAUS #Paris2024 #Olympics #Tennis pic.twitter.com/vRPFitCAkY
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) July 27, 2024
The pair embraced warmly on the finish, with Ebden, who has a shot at profitable two doubles medals, getting sympathy from the Serb.
“I’m sorry for Matt, he instructed me on the internet it was his first match for 2 years and he’s formally retired from his singles profession,” mentioned Djokovic.
“Clearly, he’s centered on doubles so it was powerful for him.”
However whereas he might chuckle about his lesson from the highest seed, even at one level providing his racquet to anybody within the crowd who may fancy serving to him out, Ebden was genuinely blissful to have been in a position to play Djokovic for the primary time on the well-known Roland Garros centre courtroom that he had by no means graced earlier than.
> READ: Ebden’s drive pursuing Olympic gold as doubles world No.1
One other Australian bit the crimson mud when Rinky Hijikata was trounced 6-2 6-1 by No.4 seed Daniil Medvedev.
With Australian gamers confronted with powerful attracts on the Paris 2024 Olympic occasion, Ellen Perez and Daria Saville fell to top-seeded American duo Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-1 within the first spherical of the ladies’s doubles.
Others Australians, in the meantime, shall be excited to launch their Paris marketing campaign on Sunday.
