After the Olympic debacle, Djokovic fears for the image of tennis. What is the reason?

Yesterday, the tennis competitions at the Paris Olympic Games began. One of the matches featured the legendary Novak Djokovic, a former world number one. He faced Australian Matthew Ebden.

The match was swift, lasting only 54 minutes, with the Serbian winning by conceding just one game over two sets.

After the match, Djokovic expressed that such matches create a "bad image" for tennis. The issue, according to Djokovic, is that Ebden, who focuses more on doubles, had little to gain from the singles competition. The Serbian calls for a change in the rules. His comments were reported by the Daily Mail.

"I feel sorry for Matt. He told me at the net that this was his first singles match in two years, and now he has officially retired from singles competition.

Obviously, he is focused on doubles, which made it difficult for him.

I really don’t understand the rules. It doesn’t seem illogical to me that someone opts out of singles, and then you call up a doubles player to participate in the singles competition.

Honestly, I don’t think this is a good image for the tennis. There are many singles players who had enough time to come here and could have been invited.

So, this part I really don’t understand. I hope the ITF [International Tennis Federation] and the Olympic Committee will change this rule because it was tough for Matt."

For Djokovic, this match served as an ideal warm-up for the upcoming encounter against another tennis legend, Rafael Nadal. However, the Spaniard must first defeat Márton Fucsovics in his first-round match.