Only 23 of the top 50 men’s singles players made the trip here, a reflection of the competition’s confused place in a sport already bursting with major tournaments each year. What has always been clear, though, is that most those taking part have arrived determined to leave with a medal.
Few value it as much as two-times singles gold medallist Andy Murray, and alongside the formidable Joe Salisbury the British pair rose to the occasion in their first match together, dismantling the second seeds, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France, 6-3, 6-2.
As players continue to adjust to the uncomfortable heat and humidity, several struggled on the opening day of play, including Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and the men’s second seed, Daniil Medvedev, despite both winning in two sets. Murray and Salisbury, however, eased through with minimal problems.
“We’re really happy with how we played, but we felt good going into it,” said Salisbury. “We just had a great attitude, we had good energy together.
“It didn’t feel like it was our first match together. We gelled really well and complemented each other’s games and I’m just happy with how we competed.
There was little doubt Murray and Salisbury, who is part of the No 3-ranked team in 2021 alongside Rajeev Ram of the United States, could suit each other well. From the beginning, they were extremely alert. Murray picked up where he left off for long periods at Wimbledon, serving accurately and providing a platform for Salisbury to demonstrate his silky touch around the net.
The match, however, was a grave disappointment for one of the greatest teams of the generation. Mahut and Herbert have won everything together. They have captured all four grand slam titles including a second French Open title year, in addition to titles at World Tour Finals and Davis Cup title. Only the Olympics has evaded them, where they have never won a match.
Jamie Murray followed his brother with a far more taxing win alongside Neal Skupski. The pair recovered from a set down against Andrés Molteni and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina to win 6-7 (3), 6-4, 13-11, saving a match point at 10-11 in the final set tiebreak on their way to victory. They will face Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Ben McLachlan in the second round.
Novak Djokovic started his pursuit of a gold medal by easily defeating Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 6-2, 6-2. Djokovic did not always look comfortable in the heat, but he moved on without incident against the world No 139.
As they met at the net, the Bolivian asked Djokovic for his T-shirt and told him it was a dream to face him there. Djokovic said that he would oblige in the locker room.
Djokovic called for organisers to rethink the schedule because of the conditions. “I don’t really get why ITF doesn’t want to move the matches. This was the last centre court match and it was finished before 5pm.”
Zarina Diyas was the only player to withdraw mid-match but many struggled and Djokovic said: “You’re constantly dehydrated, you feel you have weights on your shoulders because there’s so much heat and humidity and stagnated air.
After his 6-4, 7-6 (8) win over Alexander Bublik, Medvedev also pitched in regarding the conditions, which he called some of the worst heat he has experienced. Medvedev said matches should start in the evening and that the 1min 30sec break between points is insufficient.
“But you have to play, that’s the Olympics, you go for the medal,” he said. “You’re not here to cry about the heat. It was really tough for both of us. We talked about this after the match on the court. It was unbelievably hot. But you need to get through it.”
Heather Watson, the sole British representative in the women’s competition after Johanna Konta’s withdrawal, was defeated 7-6 (5), 6-3 by the world No 119, Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany.
Watson will hope to enter the mixed doubles with Salisbury, but their combined ranking is unlikely to be high enough to make the cut for the 16-team draw.
One of the final images on the opening day was a sad one. Kiki Bertens, the Dutch former world No 4 and French Open semi-finalist, ended her singles career at the age of 29 after Marketa Vondrousova beat her 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round. Bertens, seeded 16th here, underwent surgery on her achilles heel at the end of the 2020, which she still has not fully recovered from. Last month, she said her motivation had waned.
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Bertens is a shy, late bloomer who rose into the top five in 2019 and arrived in the French Open that year as one of the tournament favourites before having to retire due to illness in the second round. It was the last French Open she played in full health.
An emotional Bertens bowed her head as she departed a singles match for the final time to the silence of an empty arena. She will play with Demi Schuurs in the doubles competition.