Only drafted in to the tournament as a last-minute replacement, Ebden always knew it was ‘mission impossible’ against the 24-time Grand Slam winner, but professional pride for a player who was once a top-40 performer demanded that he had to fight to avoid the ultimate tennis embarrassment.
As he battled at 6-0 4-0 down, the full house kept roaring him on to break his duck, and Ebden finally held serve, broke into a broad smile, stretched his arms out wide and pulled his yellow Australia shirt over his head to celebrate.
The reprieve didn’t last long as Djokovic, playing in his first match on the court since suffering the knee injury at Roland Garors that required surgery, raced to complete his 6-0 6-1 drubbing in just 53 minutes.
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The pair embraced warmly at the end, with Ebden, who has a shot at winning two doubles medals, getting sympathy from the Serb.
“I’m sorry for Matt, he told me at the net it was his first match for two years and he’s officially retired from his singles career,” said Djokovic.
“Obviously, he’s focused on doubles so it was tough for him.”
But while he could chuckle about his lesson from the top seed, even at one point offering his racquet to anyone in the crowd who might fancy helping him out, Ebden was genuinely happy to have been able to play Djokovic for the first time on the famous Roland Garros centre court that he had never graced before.
> READ: Ebden’s drive pursuing Olympic gold as doubles world No.1
Another Australian bit the red dust when Rinky Hijikata was trounced 6-2 6-1 by No.4 seed Daniil Medvedev.
With Australian players faced with tough draws at the Paris 2024 Olympic event, Ellen Perez and Daria Saville fell to top-seeded American duo Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-1 in the first round of the women’s doubles.
Others Australians, meanwhile, will be excited to launch their Paris campaign on Sunday.
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