Will Pablo Carreno Busta make Spain proud as he aims to bring home a medal, even if it is Bronze, or will Novak Djokovic bounce back after that extremely tough semi final loss which no one expected to happen, especially with how Novak has played in 2021?
Pablo Carreno Busta unfortunately did not bring his best tennis out when he needed it most in the semi finals, losing to the Russian, Karen Khachanov, in 2 quick sets 3-6/3-6. Karen was playing at a high level but Pablo did not come out playing like he did against Medvedev on the day before. Pablo has been in great form this year so he will still be fine and bounce back, but he would have been hoping he would have faced Zverev in this 3rd place final instead of Djokovic because it would have meant he had a better chance at the Bronze medal.
Novak Djokovic lose a match shockingly this year and he now has to bounce back, dust his shoulders off and come back out to fight. Novak lost to a close friend and rival, Alexander Zverev after being up a set and a break, losing in 3 sets 6-1/3-6/1-6. Novak was dominating the match and we all expected it to be done quite soon, but Zverev did not let that happen and he just raised his level and began playing like he had nothing to lose. Djokovic’s golden slam hopes are now over and all he can get is another Bronze medal to add to his Olympic medal collection.
This is going to be the 6th meeting between both players, with Novak having won 4 of their 5 prior encounters being won by Novak. The one won by Pablo is not even really a win because it was due to Novak being DQ’s after hitting a line judge with a ball. Pablo and Novak do not really like each other so I expect a tight match where both of them will not care for the other, but even with that sort of tension, Novak will come out here and cruise to get another Bronze medal for his collection.