THE bronze medal matchup between world number one Novak Djokovic and Pablo Carreno Busta always looked to be a cracker with both players in fine form, but it appeared the sixth seeded Spaniard had the extra bit of spark with Djokovic coming in off the back of an unprecedented loss to Alexander Zverev the day prior.

It was an outstanding 6.4 6-7(6) 3-6 victory from Carreno Busta that produced the bronze medal and a maiden victory over the Serbian champion, careening his name into the history books as an increasingly frustrated Djokovic ran out of focus.

“This is even more incredible than winning a tournament,” Carreno Busta said. “I won Davis Cup, and I’ve gone far in other tournaments, but winning an Olympic medal is indescribable.

“I’ve felt the support from Spain, my family and people around me, and have received fond messages from those who saw me lose yesterday. I want to share this medal with all of them.”

It was a fast start that got Carreno Busta going, firing early and capitalising off Djokovic’s uncharacteristic errors. Carreno Busta fired on all cylinders on serve from the get go to take an early break and control proceedings, before Djokovic bit back in the second to drag a 5-6 second set match point off the Spaniard and force a tiebreak, which the Serbian then took advantage of.

But while Djokovic appeared to have the momentum, Carreno Busta had the intent and willingness to chip away to lead 3-0 as the Serbian lost his temper, keeping his cool to deny Djokovic a chance of working his way back into the clash and deny an Olympic medal in the process.

With seven aces to his name, Carreno Busta retained control with a 73 per cent win rate on his first serve. While both players made a host of errors (40-44 forced, 23-21 unforced), Carreno Busta put Djokovic in an uncomfortable position on the return which paid off in the end.

“I’ve had some heart-breaking losses at the Olympic Games and some big tournaments in my career,” Djokovic said. “I know that those losses have usually made me stronger in every aspect. I know that I will bounce back.

“I will try to keep going for the Paris Olympic Games. I will fight for my country to win medals. I’m sorry that I disappointed a lot of sports fans in my country, but that’s sport. I gave it [my] all, whatever I had left in the tank, which was not so much, I left it out on the court.”

OLYMPICS MEN’S BRONZE MEDAL MATCH RESULT:

[6] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) defeated [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4 6-7 6-3

Picture credit: Kopatsch/Sato/Sidorjak