Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz post wins at Paris Olympics.
Ebden got into the singles bracket because he was in Paris to play doubles and thus available when 16th-ranked Holger Rune of Denmark withdrew with an injured wrist.
Ebden's lone game came after he was already down 6-0, 4-0 -- and he celebrated by pulling the front of his yellow shirt over his head and baring his chest to roars from the flag-dotted crowd.
Djokovic was less amused, saying he doesn't think someone like Ebden, a 36-year-old doubles player from Australia who hadn't competed in a tour-level, main-draw singles match since June 2022, should have been on the court without a teammate at the Summer Games.
"I really don't understand the rules. They're really not logical for me," Djokovic said. "I don't think it's a good image for the sport, to be honest. There were a lot of singles players that have plenty of time, that were alternates, that could have been called to come. This part I don't get."
Djokovic has endured some Olympic disappointments, twice losing in the semifinals, with his only medal being a singles bronze in Beijing in 2008. His win Saturday was his 14th at an Olympics -- the most for a man since tennis returned to the Summer Games in 1988.