formerly ranked 40th in the world At the Olympic Games in Paris, Matthew Ebden will play his last singles match of his career. After a few withdrawals, Matthew entered the singles draw and was given the amazing chance to play 24-time Major winner Novak Djokovic on Court Philippe-Chatrier!
The Australian focused on doubles play and rose to the top of the world rankings in February, defeating Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer in singles matches but avoiding Djokovic in the latter’s absence. Alongside John Peers and Ellen Perez, Ebden will pursue medals in the men’s and mixed doubles categories, referring to those events as his top ambitions.
Despite everything, Matthew views his duel with Novak as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and will cherish every moment of it. When Ebden first saw the draw, he had a goofy, ‘Mission Impossible’ kind of reaction.
Djokovic will begin his pursuit of the elusive title absent from his collection at the start of his sixth Olympic Games.
Novak Djokovic is facing Matthew Ebden in the first round at the Paris Olympics.
Novak was the favorite in Tokyo three years ago, conquering the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon and chasing the Olympic gold medal.
Everything worked well for the Serb until the semi-final. Djokovic forged a set and a break advantage against Alexander Zverev before fading from the court, dropping ten of the final 11 games and suffering his third loss in the Olympic Games semi-finals.
Like in London, Djokovic lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta, leaving Tokyo mighty disappointed. Novak will have another opportunity to fight for the gold at Roland Garros, setting a possible second-round clash against Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic is the top seed in Jannik Sinner’s absence, avoiding the Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz until the final.
“All I could do when I sketched Novak was laugh and make fun of myself.
I’ll do my best to keep the audience engaged and present a suitable show. It had been more than two years since my last competitive singles match. I was a little bummed that I never got to play against Novak in singles because I had assumed that would never happen.
I now have the incredible chance to play my last singles match against him on Court Philippe-Chatrier. It’s going to be enjoyable, but I know why I’m in Paris. My top aim is to get into two doubles draws because those are my realistic prospects,” Matthew Ebden remarked.
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