Novak Djokovic fails to win consolation prize, loses bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will be returning back empty-handed as he lost the men's singles bronze medal match to Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta  6-4 6-7 6-3 in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 loser's final match on Saturday.

Novak Djokovic had come into this match with the aim of winning a consolation prize after his heartbreaking semi-final loss to Germany's Alexander Zverev on Friday which marked an end to his quest for a 'Golden Slam' but, it was not to be as Pablo Carreno bought his A-game on the big day. 

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Novak Djokovic fails to clinch the bronze medal

In fact, Novak Djokovic looked completely clueless in the first set as  Pablo Carreno Busta drew first blood  6-4 margin. Nonetheless, 'Djoker' staged a remarkable comeback in the following set even though it was a hard-fought set with the Serbian icon successfully fending off Pablo Carreno Busta's relentless aggression and thereby, giving himself another shot at redemption as the bronze medal match headed into the decider with an impressive margin of  8-6. 

In the third and final set, it was the Spaniard who gained command early on and even though Djokovic did try his level best to fight hard and stay in the contest, he simply could not rise to the occasion and missed out on an Olympic medal. 

Meanwhile, this was the second time where Novak Djokovic finished fourth. He had lost to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in the 2012 edition in London when the two had locked horns in the loser's final. 

'Djoker'  had finished as the bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He enjoyed an outstanding run in that year's event but a  6-4 1-6 6-4 loss in the semi-final to the eventual gold medalist Rafael Nadal meant that the then-upcoming tennis sensation was out of contention from the gold medal match. However, he successfully overcame USA's James Blake  6-3 7-6 in the loser's final to finish with the third-biggest prize of the prestigious tournament.

All is not over for Novak Djokovic as he will be seen in action during the mixed doubles bronze medal match. He will be teaming up with Nina Stojanovic to face the Australian duo of John Peers and Ashleigh Barty.