Rio 2016: Novak Djokovic’s unexpected tears prove tennis belongs in the Olympics

Emotional reaction from world No 1 to his first-round loss in Rio is best thing that could have happened for tennis at the Games, writes Graham Caygill.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia shows his emotion as he waves to the crowd after his defeat against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in their singles match on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the OlyShow more

Tennis did not have the greatest build-up to the Rio Olympics.

Sure, it was not golf which has seemingly secured a relatively short return to the Olympics with the top four in the world, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, among those giving the action in Brazil a swerve.

Tennis had some withdrawals too, with the Zika virus sited as the main reason for top 10 players such as Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Dominic Thiem chose not to compete.

Tennis has always struggled for its place at the Olympics, since its return to the Games in 1988, in that does winning a gold medal truly measure up to winning a grand slam?

But Sunday's surprise loss by world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round of the men's tournament to Juan Martin del Potro was the best thing that could have happened to the sport in terms of justifying its place at the Olympics.

It was not the result that is the reason for this, rather the emotional reaction from the Serbian to the loss, as he broke down in tears as he left the court.

"No doubt it's one of the toughest losses in my life, in my career," he told The New York Times afterwards. "It's not easy to handle, especially now just after the match, the wounds are still fresh but you know you have to deal with it.

“It’s not the first or the last time I’m losing a tennis match, but Olympic Games, yeah it’s different.”

See also:

• Rio 2016: Novak Djokovic draws tough opening match against old foe Juan Martin del Potro

• The top 5: Record-breaking swimmers, disappointing Neymar and Djokovic – The best of Olympics Day 2

The tears of Djokovic, 29, were unexpected, but a refreshing thing to see and something that hopefully changes the viewpoint of some of the tennis fraternity towards the Olympics.

Djokovic is the dominant force in men’s tennis at present, having won everything significant that there is to win on the ATP Tour already, with the icing on the cake seemingly being completing his career Grand Slam in June when he won the French Open for the first time.

But, it turns out there was something missing from his trophy cabinet that he wanted – an Olympic singles gold medal.

The 12-time major winner wanted it very badly, for himself, and for his country, and the fact that another chance has gone, and he will be 33 by the time he next gets a crack at in Tokyo in 2020 clearly got to him and his emotions poured out.

To put this in context, this is not some journeyman tennis player missing out on his one chance at glory.

Djokovic is a multi-millionaire, who is the best in the world at his craft right now, and has a heaving trophy cabinet full of honours.

Lesser players than him are not in Rio, and yes, the Zika virus is a genuine concern, and those athletes have every right to make their own choice on their participation.

Djokovic did not have to be there, but he went to Rio to win, fell short, and was devastated by his failure.

You wouldn’t have blamed him for shrugging his shoulders and having a ‘you win some, you lose some’ attitude and moved straight on to preparing for his US Open title defence at the end of the month.

Djokovic has lost plenty of big matches along with his very many victories. He has lost eight grand slam finals, but never reacted to any of those defeats like he did on Sunday.

Those tears, whether of personal disappointment, or frustration he did not win a gold for Serbia, who only picked up a single gold medal at the 2012 London Games, and do not have an array of medal winners at their disposal this time around either, have made the men’s tennis tournament feel a lot more important.

The moment of Djokovic’s tears will be one of the most well-remembered of these Olympics.

It will do his public image no harm, just as it did for Roger Federer at the 2009 Australian Open and Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2012 after they both also got a little teary on court.

But, long term, the next time the position of tennis at the Olympics is brought up in conversation, his tears will remind everyone that it very much does have a place there.

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