As draws at the Olympics go, it's hard to think of many harder opponents than Serbian tennis powerhouse Novak Djokovic.
The 37-year-old is a 24-times Grand Slam winner, but an Olympic gold medal is one of the few major accolades still missing from his trophy cabinet.
He got his Paris 2024 campaign underway on Saturday afternoon, against an unlikely opponent.
Australia's Matthew Ebden will take part in the men's doubles in Paris, alongside his compatriot John Peers. However, ahead of the Olympics, he had not played in a singles game in over two years.
The Olympic format dictates that players entered into the doubles event act as "alternates," to replace any dropouts in the singles competition. With Andy Murray withdrawing from the tournament on short notice, Ebden got similarly short notice that he would have to return to singles play after significant time away.
Things did not get any less daunting when he was drawn against Djokovic, of all people. Making the most of the situation, Ebden brought a brilliant energy to the match, even while falling to a heavy defeat.
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Aussie Matthew Ebden had hilarious response to defeat to Djokovic
It was always going to be tricky for Matthew Ebden to be competitive in his first singles match in two years, against the best player of the last decade.
So it played out, with the Australian losing the first set 6-0 in under half an hour.
Ebden started to see the funny side of the situation, however, and offered his racket to random Australian fans in the crowd after falling two games down in the second set.
Ebden just asked people in the crowd if they wanted to play against Djokovic instead of him 😭😂
Down 0-6 0-2, although, to be fair, Matthew hasn’t played a singles match in TWO YEARS 😅 pic.twitter.com/rQgIxx361j— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) July 27, 2024
The highlight of the game came in the third game of the second set, as Ebden pulled one back at last against the powerhouse on the other side of the Roland Garros court.
36-year-old Ebden certainly made the most of the moment, pulling his shirt over his head and wildly celebrating his unexpected win.
Matt Ebden’s reaction to finally getting a game against Novak Djokovic at the Olympics 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/N3Z7Je8Zh8
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 27, 2024
Even Novak Djokovic could not help but crack a smile at Ebden's effervescent antics, with the Serb patting his opponent on the shoulder as they returned to their courtside seats.
Ultimately, it would take Djokovic little more than 20 minutes to dispatch of his opponent, with the final score reading 6-0 6-1.
After the game, Ebden shared a heartwarming post to his Instagram page thanking Djokovic for "one last singles match."
Safe to say I'm officially retired from singles after that.
Was a pleasure @DjokerNole to share the court with you for one last singles match on Philippe Chatrier here at the Olympics.
All the best for the rest of the tournament and (if it's not one of our Aussies) I hope you get the gold.
Novak Djokovic may not have learned much from Saturday's first-round game, but the upbeat response of Matthew Ebden in defeat is undoubtedly a classic feel-good Olympics story.
Djokovic's victory sets up the potential of a mouthwatering clash with Rafael Nadal in the second-round, should the Spaniard progress from his clash with Márton Fucsovics of Hungary.
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