Novak Djokovic was far from happy about the rules at the 2024 Paris Olympics after his thrashing win over Matthew Ebden.
The Olympic Games are a special event, and as such, the rules are also special. However, in this case, they are not really special for good, as one rule in particular seemingly ruins the competition for many players.
In the opening round of his 2024 Paris Olympics campaign, Djokovic had no troubles on the Court Philippe-Chatrier, beating Ebden 6-0, 6-1, in what was a thrashing start for the 37-year-old, but not such a good experience for his opponent.
Ebden hasn't played a single match since 2022, prioritizing his doubles career instead, but despite winning only one game in the first-round singles match in Paris, he saw the funny side of his appearance in singles at the Olympics.
"I just had to make a joke out of it really. I wasn't coming here to play singles but my wife said also I've never officially retired from singles... I was lucky in my singles career."
"I played against Federer, Nadal, Murray and played in all the big center courts around the world but I never played Chatrier and never played Novak, so some miracle happened and I got to play Novak on Chatrier. [It was] the perfect way to retire my singles officially."
However, Djokovic wasn't so positive when talking about the Australian's participation. Of course, the 24-time major winner doesn't have any problem with his Australian opponent, instead, a rule that saw him get into the singles tournament.
Usually, at the tournaments around the ATP Tour, every entry list also includes a list of alternates who would step into the tournament should someone withdraw from the event. If that happens after the qualifying starts, then lucky losers from the qualifying are added to the main draw.
However, that isn't the case at the Olympic Games. If someone withdraws from singles competition, no other singles players enter the tournament, but instead, a player from doubles enters as an alternate.
That meant that Ebden, who hasn't played a singles match since 2022, entered the singles tournament, playing against Djokovic, which resulted in a not really nice scoreline, which the Serbian wasn't a fan of.
"Look, I really don’t understand the rules they’re a bit, really not logical for me. You know that you have if somebody withdraws or cancels before or when the draw is made then you call doubles players to play singles."
"I don’t think it’s a good image for the sport, to be honest. There were a lot of singles players that had plenty of time, that were alternates, that could’ve been called to come."
"So this part I don’t get, I really hope the ITF along with the Olympics will consider changing this rule because it’s tough on Matthew because, he hasn’t played I guess a singles practice in two years."
According to Djokovic, there were plenty of players who could step into the singles competition after some withdrawals, inistead of putting in doubles players, but still, he was happy about his victory.
"He’s told me it’s been over two years [since] he played a singles match, this was his last singles match, he’s officially retired [from singles]. So not a great feeling for him being on the court like that but it is what it is."
"As I said, I’m happy with overcoming the hurdle the way I did in the first match. Tomorrow I’ll have a day of training and preparing for the first match."
Djokovic specifically named Matteo Berrettini, who won 10 consecutive matches and won back-to-back titles, while not being able to compete at the Olympics, as one of the possible players that could have stepped in and competed in Paris.
"I don’t think the rules are great at all. I think that needs to change and it’s been happening every Olympic Games that I was part of, this is my fifth. I just don’t understand why, if you have time, if it’s in Europe - most of the other players are in Europe, some are in the States."
"But there was a lot of players that were alternates and they were ready to come, within half a day they would be here. So I just don’t get this rule, I hope they will change it. It’s not a great image for tennis and as you mentioned, Berrettini was one of those players that could easily be playing in this tournament."
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