Novak Djokovic's stay in Rio may be short-lived. The No. 1 seed in the Olympic singles tournament fell in the first round to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) and was visibly frustrated all night.
Del Potro outplayed Djokovic across the court, forcing errors and outright winning points with great forehand strikes and cross-court volleys. Djokovic has 30 unforced errors in the match. Del Potro had 40 winners.
Before the match began, del Potro was trapped in an elevator in the Olympic Village for 40 minutes before the Argentine handball team was able to rescue him.
Del Potro is no slouch on the court despite not being as successful in major tournaments in the last couple of years. His lone win at a major came at the 2009 U.S. Open. He also took home a bronze medal in singles in 2012.
Djokovic, coming off of four major titles in the last five, will now go back to the drawing board before the U.S. Open begins in a month. He also failed to medal in 2012 after reaching the semifinals and losing in the bronze medal match to, you guessed it, del Potro. Djokovic still has a shot at a gold medal in the doubles tournament where he'll face the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares.
