No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic started his fifth Olympic tennis campaign in fine form, dropping only one game to Australia's Matt Ebden, 6-0, 6-1. Djokovic clocked 24 winners and converted six of nine break points on his way to victory. Djokovic enters the Olympics without capturing a major title this year. Recently, the right-hander had knee surgery, and it's impacted his game. He fell to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, looking tired and out of shape.
At a pre-tournament media conference, Djokovic noted how difficult the Olympic tournament would be on his body.
"As always, I have high hopes. Expectations are, of course, there, but it’s a difficult tournament in terms of tennis. Sixty-four players, everyone is competing for a medal. It’s quite intense, we need to play six matches to win the Olympic Games in eight days, so lots of matches and intensity."
But his first Olympic match saw Djokovic calm, cool, and ready to capture gold. At one point, the crowd boisterously cheered him on with a "Novak!" chant.
The next round for Djokovic could be the most anticipated of the tournament, as he could collide with Spain's Rafael Nadal in Round 2.
Read the full Djokovic vs. Ebden results.
Carlos Alcaraz's Olympic debut was an easy first round win against Hady Habib of Lebanon, 6-1, 6-3. Alcaraz will later pair up with the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in the most anticipated men's doubles team this tournament. They have been dubbed as "Nadalcaraz".