Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro reacts after winning his men’s first round singles tennis match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Olympic Tennis Centre of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Roberto SCHMIDT
World number one Novak Djokovic was dumped out of the Olympics in the first round Sunday, losing for the second successive Games to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.
Four years ago in London, the giant Del Potro had defeated the Serb in the bronze medal match and he repeated the shock Sunday in a stunning 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) victory.
The 27-year-old Del Potro, whose ranking has slumped to 145 after a succession of wrist operations pushed him to the brink of retirement, started the day by getting stuck in an elevator for 40 minutes at the athletes village.
But that inconvenience did not shake the 2009 US Open champion out of his big-hitting stride as he shocked the top seed to set up a second-round clash with Portugal’s Joao Sousa.