Djokovic, who also lost to Del Potro in the bronze medal play-off at London 2012, had no answer to the power of the Argentinian, with the 2009 US Open champion sealing a 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/2) victory in nearly two and a half hours.
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The tall Argentine did not have to face a single break point to the 12-time Grand Slam victor.
Andy Murray, of England, eyes the ball on a return to Viktor Troicki, of Serbia, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016.
A hugely hard match from both del Potro and Djokovic’s perspectives – each had the misfortune of drawing the other in the first round.
In what was the marquee match of the Olympics so far, del Potro had three break chances to take an immediately lead, saved well by Djokovic. “That’s sport”, said Djokovic whose Olympic singles record is stalled at a bronze from Beijing in 2008, reported AFP.
“But you have to deal with it”.
The Williams sisters meanwhile lost a first Olympic doubles match when they were ousted 6-3, 6-4 defeat against Czech Fed Cup winners Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
After stunning Novak Djokovic at the Rio Olympics, Juan Martin del Potro was up late struggling to believe his win.
The top seed was in tears as he departed Centre Court and went on to state the result represented one of the toughest losses of his career. Andre Agassi, in the 1996 Atlanta Games, was the last world’s leading man to win the the gold medal.
None was more significant than 2009 U.S. Open titlist del Potro’s victory over 12-time major champion and No. 1-ranked Djokovic in a thriller before a raucous crowd.
Earlier in the day, del Potro briefly got stuck in a malfunctioning lift but his luck improved against Djokovic, whom he also defeated in the bronze medal match at the London Games. For years, del Potro theoretically “could have” competed with men’s tennis’ “Big Four” of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray because of his baseline firepower. The Argentine fired outrageous forehand winners left and right, but the top-seeded Serb delivered clutch service hold after clutch service hold to stay on level terms the entire way.
“I’m getting better. I’m in good shape, but I don’t know if I’m prepared to play six or more matches”, he said.
“It was an unbelievable match for me”. Del Potro got off to a hot start in the first one and finished it on serve at 6-4 with another crushing forehand.
Del Potro, now ranked at 145 in the world after being number four in 2010, said Sunday’s win was more special than his victory in 2012.
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This defeat capped a couple of miserable days for older sibling Venus, who was dumped out of the singles draw in the first round by Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens.
