Powered BySG media
SBZ app
Yuvaraja Karunakaran

Calendar Iconviews : 893

4 Min Read

Paris Olympics 2024: Novak Djokovic And Rafael Nadal Could Meet In Olympic Tennis 2nd Round

Paris Olympics 2024: Novak Djokovic And Rafael Nadal Could Meet In Olympic Tennis 2nd Round

Paris Olympics 2024: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal could meet in 2nd Round

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic could meet his arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Paris Olympic tennis tournament. On Thursday, ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, Novak Djokovic was drawn against Australian Matthew Ebden and Rafael Nadal faces Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, with the winners of those matches meeting in Round 2. The 38-year-old Spanish legend won a record 14 of his 22 major trophies at the French Open. He also won gold in singles at Beijing in 2008, and in doubles with Marc Lopez at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Talking about the Paris Olympics' tennis schedule, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz all are on the first day of action on Saturday at the Roland Garros.

Paris Olympics 2024: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal could meet in the Olympic tennis 2nd Round

After undergoing knee surgery, Novak Djokovic raced against time to make it to Wimbledon. Now, his challenge is transitioning from grass to clay. The tennis event starts on Saturday, July 27 at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Amidst all the excitement, Novak Djokovic has spoken up about potentially playing against his arch-rival Rafael Nadal at the Paris Olympics. Djokovic and Nadal feature in the same half of the men's singles draw in the Paris Olympic tennis tournament and will go on to face each other in the 2nd round if they win their respective first-round matches. Djokovic is wary of Nadal's drastic drop in form and ranking. The World No. 2 went on to express his hope that he does indeed, get to face Nadal at the Paris Olympics for "one last dance".

"Obviously, Nadal hasn't played much. His ranking dropped, so there's always going to be that possibility of me meeting him in an early round, and, there we go. It's going to be a spectacle definitely if we get to meet, and spread some fireworks on the court, like the good old times. I hope we get to meet because it will probably be one last dance for the both of us," Novak Djokovic said.

From a fan perspective, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal's rivalry is the most entertaining in men's tennis in the Open Era. The duo have played 59 matches, with the Serb edging the Spaniard by the barest of margins in their head-to-head, 30-29. They have been part of 9 Grand Slam singles finals with Nadal having won five of them. Their recent meeting came in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals, which the Spaniard won before eventually going on to clinch his record-extending 14th title at the Roland Garros. Unfortunately, Nadal picked up a fresh injury at the 2024 Brisbane International, which kept him out for several more months. The Spaniard returned in time and is all set to feature prominently for Spain at the Paris Olympics 2024. Recently, Novak attended 'The Prelude to the Olympics' party, which was held at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.

"Roland Garros as everybody knows is the most special place in tennis for me. I am enjoying the fact I am back for the Olympics. I am just trying to enjoy every single moment," Rafael Nadal said on stage after the draw.

Rafael Nadal skips training ahead of Paris Olympics 2024

Talking about the latest Tennis news, Rafael Nadal's coach Carlos Moya recently confirmed that a fresh injury concern has cropped up for the two-time Olympic gold medalist. While Moya did not go into too much into the details of the issue, he did reveal that Rafael Nadal had skipped training on Thursday, July 25 ahead of the Paris Olympic tennis tournament.

Considering the cautious decision taken by Nadal and Moya, it's likely that Rafael Nadal may withdraw from the singles competition at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and instead focus on his doubles campaign alongside Carlos Alcaraz. If the Spaniard does withdraw, Novak Djokovic's hopes of meeting him at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be dashed.

"It was a setback and we decided that today Rafa would rest and not train to recover. We are going to give ourselves 48 hours, we have to wait," Rafael Nadal's coach Carlos Moya said.

Novak Djokovic is all set to start his singles campaign at the 2024 Olympics against Matthew Ebden, who made his way into the main draw following veteran Andy Murray's withdrawal. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal's singles campaign is slated to begin against Marton Fucsovics. The tennis tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics is scheduled to commence on Saturday, July 27.

SBZ app
SBZ app
SBZ app