Love Tennis

Novak Djokovic, a tennis player from Serbia, headed into this year's Olympics hoping to win a gold medal and a "Golden Slam," but came up quite a bit short on Saturday.

One wins a Golden Slam by a) winning all four Grand Slam tournaments b) winning an Olympic gold medal  and c) dating Taylor Swift, all in a single year.

Just kidding about Tay. She doesn't need jokers like Djokovic. But as no man has ever won a Golden Slam, Djokovic had it in his sights, having won the first three Grand Slams this year.

But on Saturday, Djokovic lost for the third time in two days in the Olympics. He lost the men's singles bronze medal match singles to Pablo Carreño Busta, of Spain, 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3, at Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo.

Displaying the jejune sense of maturity that so many enfants terribles of tennis seem to share, Djokovic couldn’t reach a game-winning shot from Carreño Busta in the first game of the third set. As children will, he flung his racket over the fifth row. Then in the third game, he golden-slammed his racket against the net post and received a verbal slap on the wrist.

So he lost. He was supposed to play in a doubles match later on Saturday, another bronze medal event, but he claimed a sudden-onset left shoulder injury and withdrew, handing the medal to Australia. 

Now here comes the part where the hero with the big mouth is exposed as just another bloviating male, of which the world has already entirely too many.

Several days before his Saturday debacle, Djokovic was asked about pressure, after  four-time gold medalist Simone Biles had to withdraw from gymnastics competition, citing the need to take care of her mental health in lieu of performing vaults and stunts. Both Biles and Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka have been upfront about the crush of pressure and challenges of worldwide competition.

Ever the ungallant oaf, Djokovic said, “Pressure is a privilege. Without pressure there is no professional sport. If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure. And how to cope with those moments on the court but also off the court, all the expectations.”

After losing to Carreño Busta, Djokovic was still telling the press he wanted to keep playing, but oh, that doggone left shoulder....

“I think it’s part of the DNA of professional athletes, I think it’s a given, it’s a must to always give your very last source of energy that you have left,” he said. “I’ve done that and result wasn’t great.”

He went on to say that he was pleased with his effort on Saturday and asked that be awarded some sort of medal for throwing his racket way up there into the stands.