Tennis duo can't pull off upset

Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus during their match at the Rio Olympics. Photo: Getty Images
Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus during their match at the Rio Olympics. Photo: Getty Images
New Zealand's tennis Olympians Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell have gone so close to an upset in the first round of doubles in Rio before bowing out to the seventh seeds Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-4 3-6 6-7 (6) in two hours and three minutes.

Nestor has a current ATP doubles ranking of nine and has 90 career titles including eight Grand Slam titles while Pospisil is 17 in the world and has six titles including the 2014 Wimbledon title.

Venus is ranked 41st with four titles and two finalists finishes this year and Daniell ranked 58th has one title to his name this year.

The Kiwis started the match well taking the first set but the Canadians fought back taking the second set 6-3. It came down to the tie break and basically the final two points being the only difference between the teams.

Both combinations were successful with two breaks of serve each. The Kiwis converting two of their four opportunities while the Canadians were successful with two out of seven break point opportunities.

Djokovic goes down

World number one Novak Djokovic was dumped out in the first round of the singles by Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, who also defeated him in the bronze medal match at the London Olympics.

 

Del Potro, a former US Open champion ranked 145 in the world after an injury-hit few years, stunned the Serb with a powerful display to win 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in the biggest upset in thetennis tournament.

 

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