Djokovic was bounced by big hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets on Sunday, 7 August.
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Djokovic was joined by the American super sister duo of Serena and Venus Williams in a group of stars eliminated early off of the tennis court.
Djokovic was under pressure from the off as a pair of rasping forehands from the racket of his Argentine opponent combined with a handful of unforced errors forced him to defend three break points in the opening game of the match.
Del Potro meanwhile cried tears of joy after the monumental win, only his fourth in the 15th meeting with Djokovic, but the second one at the Olympics as he also won their bronze medal game at London 2012. It’s not easy to handle, especially now, just after the wounds are still fresh. It looks like he is off to a great start at the Rio Olympics.
An emotional Djokovic left the court with his head down after del Potro, whose career has been hampered by injuries, rallied past the Serb 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (2-7). He has won all four Grand Slam tournaments in his career but has only a bronze medal to show for (2008 Beijing) in his Olympic stints.
However, there was disappointment for Murray in the men’s doubles, where he teamed up with his brother Jamie.
“Got to take it on the chin”, said Jamie, the older brother of two-time Wimbledon victor Andy, “and move on”.
Olympics hasn’t been kind to the top-ranked players in men’s tennis.
After winning the US Open in 2009, del Potro hasn’t been consistent on the ATP tour because of injuries. So, the Argentenian was all the more pleased with his effort. He and partner Nenad Zimonjic, a 40-year-old doubles specialist, won their first-round match against Croatia over the weekend. “I was missing shots by, literally, centimeters, and I’m not really used to missing those shots”, Williams said.
“This victory is bigger than last time because I know how tough it was to come back from three surgeries”, he said.
Djokovic’s defeat further opens up the Rio draw that saw only five top-10 players, with Swiss Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka the most prominent absentees.
The loss comes on the heels of Djokovic’s early third-round exit at Wimbledon 2016 in July.
Having added flag-waving to his list of talents, Andy Murray got back to the day job in thoroughly convincing fashion as he launched the defence of his Olympic title with victory over Viktor Troicki. They were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
“We played awful”, Serena said, “and it showed in the results”.
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“I’ll concentrate on the singles now”, Andy said. “I’ll get a day off tomorrow and recover. It’s been a long day”.
