Speaking about the excitement generated regarding their match, Djokovic commented, ‘This kind of atmosphere I experienced a few times in my life, mostly in my country and this felt like I’m in my country.
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However, the 27-year-old did not have the best of preparations for the match as he was stuck in an elevator at the Athletes Village.
His defeat opens up the draw for second seed Murray, 29, who beat Troicki 6-3 6-2 to progress to the second round. But the Gladiators (the team’s nickname) came to the rescue’. And when he was asked about this win, h told the media wing that ” awesome, wonderful match for me.
Del Potro will next face João Sousa of Portugal in the second round match on Monday.
Del Potro, who was once ranked fourth highest in the world, said the performance against Djokovic gave him hope of fully overcoming his injury nightmare.
Del Potro sends Djokovic off in tears was posted in Sports of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on August 08, 2016 and was last updated on August 08, 2016.
Following his early exit at Wimbledon, the world number one had been hoping to get back on track in Rio and admitted afterwards the defeat had hit him extremely hard. It was a dream night. I didn’t expect to beat Novak tonight because I know my situation, I know my problems with my backhand and my wrist, but I played an incredible match, my forehand worked very great, my serve was okay and the atmosphere was great too. Defending Olympic champions Bob and Mike Bryan have chosen to sit out the Olympic Games this time around, with many considering the Davis Cup winning Murray brothers combine strong contenders for gold. Del Potro, who is now ranked number 145 in the world, was the first to admit that he was not expecting to beat Novak Djokovic in the first round.
“This is one of the toughest losses in my career”, the Serb said. It’s not easy to handle but you have to deal with it.
“It’s very sad and disappointing to go out of the tournament this early but I am glad that a good friend of mine, who has struggled with injuries, has won”.
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“In the decisive moments, he just came up with some extraordinary tennis and I have to congratulate him”.
