Novak Djokovic, who won, and Rafael Nadal, who lost, met at the net and hugged after playing at the Paris Olympics in the 60th – and quite possibly last – installment of a record-breaking and often riveting rivalry between two tennis greats who share a mutual respect if not a close friendship.
This 6-1, 6-4 victory for Djokovic came in only the second round of the Summer Games – instead of a Grand Slam final, like nine previous head-to-head encounters – and it was not the most scintillating contest, either, other than for a 20-minute interlude in the second set, when Nadal’s final push made things briefly competitive after he ceded 10 of the initial 11 games.
Afterward, neither Nadal, who is 38, nor Djokovic, 37, was willing to concede they won’t play each other again, even if that seems likely. Nadal certainly seems as if he could be close to retirement; he’s had two injury-filled seasons, needed hip surgery a little more than a year ago, and spoke in 2023 about 2024 being his farewell.
But he’s not done at these Olympics, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles for Spain, and said Monday he’s a bit tired of getting asked every day about his future.
“I cannot live every single day with the feeling that it´s going to be, or not going to be, my last match. I come here, I try my best, I play. And when I decide to stop playing, or when I decide to keep going, I will let you know. I don´t know,” Nadal said. “If I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going or physically I am not … ready to keep going, I will stop, and I will let you know.”
What was clear for the first 1 1/2 hours against Djokovic is that Nadal was diminished, nowhere near the skilled and ever-hustling version of himself that won a record 14 French Open trophies on the same red clay at Roland Garros that is hosting Summer Games matches.
He acknowledged as much after leaving Court Philippe Chatrier, where fans repeatedly tried to encourage him with chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!”
“Playing against Novak without creating damage to him, and without having the legs of 20 years ago, is almost impossible,” said Nadal, whose right thigh has been taped up for all of his matches in Paris.
Djokovic was asked whether this might mark the end of head-to-head competition between the pair.
“Of course it can be, but we don´t know that. It really depends on many different factors,” the Serbian said. “I just hope for the sake of our rivalry, and the sport, in general, that we´ll get to face each other once, maybe a few times, on different surfaces, in different parts of the world, because I feel like it can only benefit the sport. But I don´t know how he feels in his body, what his plans are.”
Djokovic owns 24 Grand Slam titles, and Nadal 22, the two highest men´s totals in the century-plus history of the sport. Both have been ranked No. 1, and no pair of men has played each other more often in the professional era. They are two-thirds of the so-called Big Three of men´s tennis, along with Roger Federer, who retired with 20 Slam titles, a cohort that enjoyed unprecedented success and prompted endless debates about which is the “GOAT” – “Greatest of All Time.”
But Nadal, a gold medalist in singles and doubles at past Olympics, and Djokovic, who says adding a gold to his otherwise glittering resume is a priority, are accustomed to meeting – and fans are accustomed to watching them – in the latter stages of events. It happened much earlier this time because while Djokovic is the top seed at the Olympics, Nadal´s ranking is outside the top 150 on account of a lack of matches.
The place was packed, from the press seats where there was jostling for space, to the highest spots in the upper deck, for what felt like a historic occasion. Rapper Snoop Dogg sat beside tennis icon Billie Jean King; Vogue editor Anna Wintour was with film director Baz Luhrmann. “You could feel the tension coming into the match, but also incredible hype, incredible atmosphere,” Djokovic said. “There was a lot of interest for this match. People wanted to see it live. People wanted to see it on the TV, as well. I was just very proud to be part of this match.” After a ho-hum stretch, the indefatigable Nadal finally got going, transforming it into something competitive, which surely no one – least of all Djokovic – found too surprising.
“If you give him time, he can hurt you. We know that. I’ve experienced that in the past,” Djokovic said. “I started to hesitate a little on my shot. He stepped in. The crowd got involved.”
Nadal captured four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all. He raised his left fist, drawing roars from the stands.
That, though, is when Djokovic regained control. He broke right back, then pointed to his left ear while walking to the sideline as if to taunt Nadal’s supporters, and served out the victory.
Part of Nadal’s troubles Monday were caused by not being in tip-top shape. And part of the problem, to be sure, was that Djokovic was mostly the best version of himself, striking the ball crisply, putting it right where he wanted and occasionally using drop shots to set up winners and force Nadal to run a lot.