Solely drafted in to the match as a last-minute alternative, Ebden at all times knew it was ‘mission unattainable’ in opposition to the 24-time Grand Slam winner, however skilled pleasure for a participant who was as soon as a top-40 performer demanded that he needed to combat to keep away from the final word tennis embarrassment.
As he battled at 6-0 4-0 down, the complete home stored 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 fun.
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.
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The pair embraced warmly on the finish, with Ebden, who has a shot at successful two doubles medals, getting sympathy from the Serb.
“I’m sorry for Matt, he informed me on the internet it was his first match for 2 years and he’s formally retired from his singles profession,” stated Djokovic.
“Clearly, he’s centered on doubles so it was robust for him.”
However whereas he may 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 completely satisfied to have been capable of 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 purple mud when Rinky Hijikata was trounced 6-2 6-1 by No.4 seed Daniil Medvedev.
With Australian gamers confronted with robust 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.
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