But when he arrived at Wimbledon in June, he hadn’t appeared at a major in 2 years.
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Del Potro is to meet Joao Sousa from Portugal in the second round, on Monday.
Djokovic won bronze back in Beijing 2008, aged just 21, but he hasn’t been able to better that since, losing the bronze medal match back at London 2012 to Del Potro, the man that defeated him once again this time around. But the No. 1 ranked holder is still alive in doubles, though, so a gold medal in Rio remains a possibility. Americans Serena and Venus Williams – the undefeated three-time gold medalists in Olympic play – fell in straight sets to Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.
The second set was equally tense.
Djokovic’s 7-6, 7-6 defeat by Del Potro has increased Murray’s chances of retaining his crown but the British No1 said: “I didn’t see Novak’s match but that is obviously a surprise”.
Elsewhere, the man who got stuck in an elevator for 40 minutes and then beat Djokovic, Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, got to the third round in men’s singles but lost to Spain’s Rafael Nadal in doubles. They say the Olympics is all about the highs and the lows, but that’s being enduring in a literal dream AND a nightmare on the very same day.
After three No. 1 seeds exited Sunday – Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in men’s singles, the Williams sisters in women’s doubles, and France’s Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in men’s doubles – Williams avoided that sort of result in singles. The year before that, he won his first (and so far only) Grand Slam title at the 2009 US Open. This is it for now, stay tuned for the 3rd day report on Rio Olympics. Del Porto told media wing that Novak told me some kind word and I really appreciate that.
The 30-year-old Spaniard, sidelined by a left wrist injury since the French Open, set up a clash with Italian veteran Andreas Seppi who he has beaten eight times in nine meetings. With the way his forehand rocked Federer that day, more Grand Slam titles seemed certain for the young Argentine. He has struggled with wrist problems, before and since then.
The Kiwis started the match well taking the first set but the Canadians fought back taking the second set 6-3.
Earlier, the New Zealand women sevens side battled to an unconvincing 5-0 win over the United States. When I hit, the crowd was cheering from the stands. It would be a forehand off the net cord, however, that clinched victory on his second match point.
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Del Potro registered one of the biggest upsets in Olympic tournament when he ousted top seed Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) on Sunday.
