Novak Djokovic was hailed as a “true champion” on Monday after his Olympic Games loss to Juan Martin del Potro reduced him to floods of tears. The world number one was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) by the dangerous Argentine in his first round match. It was his second successive Olympics loss to Del Potro having also come up short in the bronze medal match at London on 2012. As he left centre court late Monday, Djokovic saluted the crowd, pumped his chest with his fist and then the tears came. “A human side of a champ…,” tweeted former Grand Slam star Chris Evert beside a close-up video of a crying Djokovic. “Anyone that says #Olympics doesn’t mean anything to tennis players, hope you watched @DjokerNole v @delpotrojuan both in tears at the end,” wrote former Australian Grand Slam doubles champion Todd Woodbridge on Twitter. With inputs from AFP