In Pictures: Novak Djokovic, wife Jelena, son Stefan & daughter Tara get into the Olympic spirit, cheer Serbian volleyball team at Paris 2024
Novak Djokovic attended Serbia's volleyball match against France at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He was present in the indoor stadium with his wife Jelena, son Stefan, and daughter Tara. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist France won the match in five sets.
France and Serbia's volleyball teams opened their Paris Olympics campaigns on Sunday, July 28. The nations are drawn together in Pool A along with Slovenia and Canada.
The recently-crowned Volleyball Nations League champions France broke down a resilient Serbian side 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-6) to open their campaign with a win.
A familiar sporting face in attendance during the Pool A match was Novak Djokovic. The World No. 2 attended the match along with his family and cheered his nation on.
Djokovic is participating in only the singles event at the Olympics. He faced Matthew Ebden in the first round on Saturday, July 27. Australia's Ebden is a specialist in the doubles event and was added to the singles draw as a replacement for players withdrawing.
The Aussie was visibly suffering from a lack of practice as Djokovic won the match 6-0, 6-1 in 53 minutes. The Serb had an off day on Sunday and will be preparing to take on his 'biggest rival' Rafael Nadal in the second round of the event.
Novak Djokovic will face his 'biggest rival' Rafael Nadal in the Paris Olympics 2024 2R
Since the 2024 Paris Olympics draw was revealed, fans were gearing up for a potential second-round clash between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The pair had to win their first-round matches to make it happen and they obliged. Djokovic got the better of Matthew Ebden while Nadal put away Hungary's Marton Fucsovics.
The second-round clash will be the 60th match between Djokovic and Nadal. In a recent interview with Tennis TV, the Serb claimed he and the Spaniard go back a long time and the 38-year-old is his 'biggest rival'.
"I can't take anybody else but Nadal as my biggest rival. As long as Nadal is playing, as long as I'm playing Nadal is always my biggest rival," Novak Djokovic said.
"Regardless of the rankings or what's going on the tour. Just because of the history of our rivalry and everything... Nadal and myself go back a long time, so, definitely, he comes in front," he added.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head record against Nadal 30-29. They have faced off before at the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, China. The Spaniard won the semifinal encounter against the Serb and went on to win the gold medal.