Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic returns the ball against Matthew Ebden of Australia during the men's singles tennis competition, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris, France.Manu Fernandez/The Associated Press
Men’s top seed Novak Djokovic began his fifth Olympic Games with an emphatic victory over Australia’s Matthew Ebden after women’s favourite Iga Świątek launched her bid for gold with a straight sets win at a rain-drenched Roland Garros on Saturday.
Serbia’s Djokovic, chasing the Olympic title that has proved so elusive during a career that has earned him 24 Grand Slam titles, sauntered to a 6-0 6-1 win in 53 minutes against a player only handed a spot in the draw as a late alternate.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz was also presented with a comfortable first-round draw against Lebanese alternate Hady Habib, but was at least given a workout in a 6-3 6-1 win.
Poland’s Swiatek opened proceedings under the closed Court Philippe Chatrier 50 days after recently winning her fourth French Open on the same arena, and she had to battle back in the second set against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu to win 6-2 7-5.
“I’m happy that I’m through because first rounds are never easy, especially at the Olympics,” top seed Swiatek told reporters after matching her run to the second round in Tokyo.
“The atmosphere was a little bit different and I was a little bit more nervous as well.”
The opening day of tennis was disrupted by heavy rain with thousands of fans without tickets for the two main show courts left frustrated after braving long queues to get in.
No play was possible on the uncovered courts until at least 5 p.m. local time with a number of matches already cancelled, but the big medal prospects had no such worries.
Djokovic has suffered some heartbreaking Olympic disappointments, twice losing in singles semi-finals, with his only medal being a singles bronze in Beijing in 2008.
The 37-year-old could not have asked for an easier start in his bid to fill the one empty space in his trophy cabinet.
It was little more than a gentle workout for Djokovic against the 36-year-old Ebden who got the biggest cheer when he celebrated winning his first game at 4-0 down in the second set by pulling his shirt over his head and raising his arms.
Ebden, a three-time Grand Slam doubles champion, had not played a singles match for two years and found himself in the draw largely because he was in the right place at the right time after Denmark’s Holger Rune pulled out with an injury.
Things may get tougher very quickly for Djokovic, however, as he could be playing 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal in round two if the latter gets past Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics on Sunday.
“Obviously, he has to win his first round tomorrow, but playing him is like a final for me in any tournament, and particularly here, knowing what he has achieved,” the Serb said of a potential 11th career meeting with Nadal at Roland Garros.
“If we get to face each other, it’s going to be possibly the last time we’re going to face each other on a big stage.”
Alcaraz’s first-round doubles alongside Nadal against Argentine duo Maximo Gonzales and Andres Molteni was likely to be the main highlight of a soggy opening day.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz arrived in Paris bidding for a French Open-Wimbledon-Olympic hat-trick and made a solid enough start in beating the plucky 275th-ranked Habib.
Before Alcaraz beat Habib on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Italy’s French Open and Wimbledon runner up Jasmine Paolini recovered from a slow start to beat Romania’s Ana Bogdan 7-5 6-3.
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