At the Paris Olympics on Monday, top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 after overcoming a momentary nervous breakdown in the second set.With the victory, Djokovic advanced to the third round.
In the women’s draw, his opponent, Polish world champion Iga Swiatek, had an even simpler morning as she defeated Diane Parry of France 6-1 to secure her own third-round spot.
With just the doubles tournament remaining, Spain’s Rafael Nadal may complete his Olympic gold medal collection, while Djokovic is still chasing his elusive singles title. In the event, Carlos Alcaraz will be his partner. Prior to a brief 4–4 comeback effort by Nadal, Djokovic held a 6-1, 4-0 lead.
“I was just very proud to be part of this match, and… I wanted to do my job on the court and really execute the game plan as much as I possibly could,” Djokovic said.
“So, almost a perfect match, the 6-1 4-0. Then things got complicated; I started to hesitate a little bit on my shot; he stepped in; the crowd got involved; and for all, it was really anybody’s set, anybody’s game.
“I’m just very glad to overcome this incredible challenge.”
Alcaraz was also in action in the singles but was never seriously pressured in his 6-1, 7-6 victory over Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor. Eighth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas punched his ticket for the next round, with the Greek finding even less resistance in his 6-1, 6-2 victory over Britain’s Daniel Evans.
Sixth seed Casper Ruud of Norway was made to work harder in his three-set win over Italy’s Andrea Vavassori.
In the women’s draw, Swiatek was joined in the next round by Czech Barbora Krejcikova, the new Wimbledon champion, who advanced with a straight-set victory over China’s Wang Xinyu.
American Coco Gauff also advanced, beating Argentine Maria Lourdes Carle 6-1, 6-1. But all eyes were on the Nadal-Djokovic showdown. The crowd was desperate to see the world’s best claycourt player make one last run in Paris, even though his best playing days are long behind him.
“I was not able to put him in difficult positions,” Nadal said. “I was not able to have enough quality shots or enough quality movements.
“Playing against Novak without creating damage to him and without having the legs of 20 years ago is almost impossible.”
At age 37, Djokovic, with 24 Grand Slam singles titles to Nadal’s 22, has remained more competitive than his injury-plagued opponent.
He left nothing to chance in a flawless display over a set and a half.
The world number two stretched the 38-year-old with punishing groundstrokes and perfect drop shots, making him look his age and racing through the first set and a half.
The crowd, ready for a mouth-watering epic on their record-extending 60th encounter, instead were being treated to what looked like a fast-track Djokovic win.
Nadal, with his thigh strapped due to a recent injury, was spilling unforced errors across Court Philippe Chatrier, lacking precision and consistency. With the crowd sensing the end of an era was approaching, Nadal was desperate to avoid one of the most bruising defeats of his career on his favourite clay surface.
A Djokovic double fault saw Nadal pull back to 4-2, and that was celebrated like a victory, with almost the entire stadium jumping from their seats to cheer him on. The Spaniard was level a little later, but it was nothing more than a brief reprieve as Djokovic sealed victory on his first match point with an ace.
