Photo by Marianne Bevis
Novak Djokovic is out of the Olympic Games after a stunning loss to Juan Martin Del Potro in the opening round of the men’s singles event. The crushing loss saw the World Number 1 reduced to tears after losing two tiebreaks to his big hitting opponent.
“No doubt this is one of the toughest losses in my life and in my career,†stated Djokovic after the match. “In the decisive moments, he just came up with some extraordinary tennis and I have to congratulate him.â€
It’s not the first time the Argentine has ended Djokovic’s Olympic dreams. Del Potro also defeated Djokovic at the 2012 London Games in the Bronze medal match. Wrist injuries have plagued the South American in recent times and he is currently ranked a lowly 145 on the circuit.
Murray and Nadal Advance
Britain’s Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal of Spain both advanced to the second round with no major dramas. Murray defeated Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3 6-2 in convincing fashion while Nadal showed little signs of the wrist problems that have troubled him lately during a straight sets victory (6-2 6-1) over the Federico Delbonis of Argentina.
Fading star Grigor Dimitrov continued his poor run of form in 2016, going down tamely in straight sets to Croat Marin Cilic.
The biggest surprise of the day was caused by Japan’s young Taro Daniel who beat American hope Jack Sock 6-4 6-4.
Results Wire:
Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 7-6(4) 7-6(2)
11-Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) beat Nikoloz Basilashvili (Georgia) 6-3 6-7(8) 6-3
Radu Albot (Moldova) beat Teymuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 4-6 6-4 6-4
16-Benoit Paire (France) beat Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) 3-6 6-3 6-4
Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) beat Lu Yen-Hsun (Taiwan) 3-6 6-3 6-4
8-David Goffin (Belgium) beat Samuel Groth (Australia) 6-4 6-2
3-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Federico Delbonis (Argentina) 6-2 6-1
Fabio Fognini (Italy) beat Victor Estrella (Dominican Republic) 2-6 7-6(4) 6-0
Joao Sousa (Portugal) beat Robin Haase (Netherlands) 6-1 7-5
2-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6-3 6-2
Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) beat Jerzy Janowicz (Poland) 5-7 6-1 7-6(10)
10-Roberto Bautista (Spain) beat Andrey Kuznetsov (Russia) 6-7(4) 6-2 0-0 (Kuznetsov retired)
Rogerio Dutra Silva (Brazil) beat Thomas Fabbiano (Italy) 7-6(4) 6-1
7-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) 6-2 6-1
Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) beat Dustin Brown (Germany) 4-6 5-4 (Brown retired)
15-Gilles Simon (France) beat Borna Coric (Croatia) 6-4 7-6(1)
6-Gael Monfils (France) beat Vasek Pospisil (Canada) 6-1 6-3
Dudi Sela (Israel) beat Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 6-4 6-4
13-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Guido Pella (Argentina) 4-6 6-1 6-2
Juan Monaco (Argentina) beat Mirza Basic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 6-2 6-2
Evgeny Donskoy (Russia) beat Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) 6-3 6-4
12-Steve Johnson (U.S.) beat Darian King (Barbados) 6-3 6-2
Yuichi Sugita (Japan) beat Brian Baker (U.S.) 5-7 7-5 6-4
Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat Illya Marchenko (Ukraine) 6-3 3-6 7-6(6)
Gastao Elias (Portugal) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia) 7-6(4) 7-6(3)
5-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Malek Jaziri (Tunisia) 4-6 7-5 6-3
Andrej Martin (Slovakia) beat Denis Kudla (U.S.) 6-0 6-3
Taro Daniel (Japan) beat 14-Jack Sock (U.S.) 6-4 6-4
Kyle Edmund (Britain) beat Jordan Thompson (Australia) 6-4 6-2
9-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 6-1 6-4
John Millman (Australia) beat Ricardas Berankis (Lithuania) 6-0 6-0
4-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Albert Ramos (Spain) 6-2 6-4
Photo by Marianne Bevis
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