"I apologized for not giving Novak Djokovic more time on court" - Matthew Ebden's hilarious net exchange with Serb after Paris Olympics 2024 1R loss
Serbia's Novak Djokovic defeated Australia's Matthew Ebden convincingly in the first round of the Paris Olympics 2024. The pair met at the net after the match and exchanged words with a smile on their faces. Ebden revealed he apologized to the Serb for not letting him have more time on the court.
Ebden is a doubles specialist who has not played a professional singles match since 2022. However, the Australian was an alternate in the singles event due to a specific rule at the Olympic Games, which states that tennis players already present at the event will be selected as alternates.
Several withdrawals took place in the singles event, which resulted in the 36-year-old joining the draw. He was drawn against top seed Djokovic, and the pair's first-round match at the Court Philippe-Chatrier on Saturday, July 27, lasted just 53 minutes.
Djokovic won 10 consecutive games before Ebden finally opened his account. However, that was the only game he won, as Djokovic won the match 6-0, 6-1.
Djokovic and Ebden exchanged pleasantries at the net following the decisive point, both wearing broad smiles. Here's what Ebden said during a post-match interview:
“I told Novak at the net that I apologized for not giving him more time on court… and that officially that had been my retirement from singles. I’m experienced enough to know what was coming.”
He took to Instagram to wish the Serb the best for the rest of the event and officially announced his retirement from singles competition.
He also told the media that he was hoping to not lose his final singles match without winning a game and was eventually happy to have won one.
“I was thinking about the donuts, you know. The donut emoji. It would have been funny to say goodbye to singles with a zero and zero, but at least I got a game. I had a great time,” Ebden said.
“Against Federer, Nadal, and Murray, I had chances but against Novak Djokovic, you can’t win the point" - Matthew Ebden
Following his first encounter against Novak Djokovic, Matthew Ebden felt the Serb was a more difficult opponent than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray.
“You feel like you can play the points, but you can’t really win them, whereas playing against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray, I won some sets against them and had chances," Ebden said.
"But against Novak, you feel like you can’t win the point. You can rally, you can have him in all sorts of places, but the ball keeps coming back, and yes, his strokes are obviously great," he added.
Ebden faced Federer in 2018 in Halle, losing the match 7-6(2), 7-5. Ebden has faced Nadal twice, losing both matches in straight sets. Despite the defeats, he managed to win more than one game in each set.
His record against Murray is similar, with two losses. However, he did manage to win a set against the Brit, despite also suffering a bagel.