Novak Djokovic has been forced to withdraw from his mixed doubles bronze medal match, citing a left shoulder injury.
Djokovic, the world No. 1 from Serbia, will leave Tokyo empty-handed in what has proved a majorly disappointing Olympic Games.
Having won all three Grand Slams this year, Djokovic arrived in Japan as the major favourite to win singles gold but he suffered an astonishing collapse in the semi-finals against Alexander Zverev on Friday.
On the same day, he and Serbian partner Nina Stojanovic lost to Russian duo Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina as his hopes of mixed doubles gold were dashed.
He returned to court on Saturday, hoping to at least claim bronze in either singles or mixed doubles, but was beaten by Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3.
And he has now pulled out of the mixed doubles, meaning Australia’s Ash Barty and John Peers will claim bronze.
Djokovic, who had been struggling on serve in his back-to-back singles defeats, will now hope to recover ahead of the US Open.
Should he win the fourth and final major of the year, which starts next month, he will become the first man since 1969 to win the Calendar Slam.
While it was a painful day for Djokovic, there were tears of joy flowing down the face of Carreno Busta as he claimed a first Olympic medal.
He had to beat both the world No. 1 and No. 2 to win the bronze, having beaten Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
Medvedev’s compatriot Karen Khachanov will take on Djokovic-conqueror Zverev in Sunday’s singles final.
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