Novak Djokovic says one rule is not ‘a good image’ for tennis after his win at the Paris Olympics

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Novak Djokovic is hoping to win Olympic Gold for the first time in his career after agony at Tokyo 2020.

Novak Djokovic strongly opened his campaign at the Paris Olympics with a resounding 53 minute win over Matthew Ebden.

The Serb was far too strong for his Australian opponent who had come in as an alternate after the high-profile Olympic withdrawals of Jannik Sinner and Andy Murray.

Ebden, a doubles specialist, was defeated 6-0, 6-1, triumphantly gesturing to the crowd when he finally managed to clinch his first game at the 11th time of asking.

The Australian, who is currently unranked, has not played a singles match in over two years and despite being ranked first in the ATP doubles rankings in February this year, barely managed to get himself into the match at all.

Novak Djokovic hits out at Olympic bosses for bad rule

The rules currently mean that any players that withdraw from singles after July 19, can only be replaced by players already competing in another event.

After spending under an hour on court, the Serb criticised the way the Olympics chooses to replace late withdrawals.

He told France 24: “I really don’t understand the rules. It’s not logical for me that you have someone withdraws from singles and you call up a doubles player to play singles.

“I don’t think it’s a good image for the sport, to be honest. There are lots of singles players that had plenty of time to get here and could have been called to come.

“So this part I don’t get at all. I hope the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and the Olympics change the rule because it was tough on Matt [Ebden]. He hasn’t played singles in two years.”

How has this affected other players in the Olympic draw?

With Sinner, Murray, Holger Rune, and Alex de Minaur all withdrawing late on, several incredibly low ranking players have been brought in to replace them.

Carlos Alcaraz’s opening round match against last-minute entrant and world number 275 Hady Habib, was all over and done with relatively quickly as the 21-year-old Wimbledon champion cruised through 6-3, 6-1.

Astonishingly, the world number 1196 Robin Haase has also been parachuted in to play Sebastian Ofner in the opening round, with the Dutchman having not played a singles match yet this year.

Djokovic’s easy first round win sees him on track to face Rafael Nadal in a blockbuster second round providing the veteran Spaniard wins his opening match.

While the Olympics has seen plenty of absentees, the method by which players are brought in certainly feels strange, as top stars are forced to play low-ranking opponents in incredibly one-sided matches.