Novak Djokovic completes Rafael Nadal rout in highly-anticipated battle No. 60 at Paris Olympics
Novak Djokovic blew his way past Rafael Nadal in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympics, beating the Spaniard in straight sets. At one point, Nadal was facing the worst defeat of his career on clay, down 1-6, 0-4, but recovered well to go out with a respectable scoreline.
Djokovic, coming into the clash as the player with the better form, started strong, breaking twice to go 4-0 up. Despite Nadal looking better with every game, it was not enough against the in-form Serb, who took the set 6-1 without breaking a sweat.
The second set started in identical fashion, with Novak Djokovic breaking twice to go 4-0 up. Nadal roared into a comeback after that, leveling at 4-4 with two service breaks of his own in stunning fashion.
Just as it looked like the momentum would shift the Spaniard's way, however, the tide turned once more. Despite saving a couple of break points, he couldn't hold his own in the next service game, and lost the serve to go 4-5* down. Serving for the match, Djokovic did not falter, converting his first match point to take the clash 6-1, 6-4 after just over 100 minutes of play on Court Philippe-Chartrier.
The head-to-head between the duo is now 31-29 in favor of the World No. 2. In their clash prior to Paris, Djokovic had lost in four sets at the same venue, going out in the quarterfinals of the 2022 French Open.
Rafael Nadal admitted Novak Djokovic was the favorite coming into the Paris Olympics clash
Speaking to press after his opening-round win over Marton Fucsovics, Rafael Nadal touched on his battle with Novak Djokovic, admitting that he himself considered the Serb the favorite.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion, at the same time, promised to try his best to create problems for his opponent, which turned out to be few and far between on the day.
"He's being very competitive. I was not being very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favourite. I'm going to try my best to bring the best to the court and then let's see how far I can go and how many problems I can create [for] him," Nadal said.
Up next, Djokovic will take on either Dominik Koepfer or Matteo Arnaldi in the third round of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nadal, meanwhile, is yet to confirm his plans for the rest of the season, including whether this will be his final year on tour.