Rafael Nadal avoids historic bagel, goes down fighting vs Djokovic at Olympics

Rafael Nadal served Novak Djokovic a historic bagel in the final of the Italian Open to trigger a racket-smashing spree from the then world no.1 in 2019. On Monday, Nadal was at the receiving end as top seed Djokovic almost returned the favour in the Olympic ‘Last Dance’ of the two icons at the Paris Summer Games 2024. Scripting probably the final chapter of his epic tennis rivalry with the King of Clay, Djokovic outclassed Nadal 6-1, 6-4 to emerge victorious in the two-set showdown at the Roland-Garros.
Shrugging off lingering injury concerns in the build-up to the mouthwatering clash, Nadal confirmed his participation in the singles event at the eleventh hour. A day after making his doubles debut with Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz, Nadal capped off a majestic Roland-Garros return by defeating Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round of the men’s singles competition. Nadal’s impressive win set a blockbuster second-round clash with his long-time rival – Djokovic.
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Sporting strapping on his injured right thigh in his singles opener, Nadal admitted that Djokovic would be the favourite in the 60th meeting of the two icons at the Roland-Garros. Living up to Nadal’s expectations, Djokovic dominated the Spaniard in the opening set of the recently concluded second-round clash in Paris. The top seed bagged 10 of the initial 11 games as Nadal struggled on the same red clay of Roland-Garros, where the 38-year-old won a record 14 French Open titles.
Though Nadal denied Djokovic a historic bagel, the former world no.1 lost the first set 6-1 before suffering a straight-set defeat at the hands of the 24-time Grand Slam winner. Lacking precision and consistency, Nadal failed to take the 2nd round meeting to the third set following his second-set comeback. Djokovic claimed a comfortable win by firing an ace on his first match point against Nadal. Out of 117, Nadal has lost only five matches at Roland-Garros. Djokovic has upstaged the King of Clay thrice at the famous venue.
The 37-year-old advanced to the third round to extend his lead over Nadal to 31-29 in the pair’s head-to-head. Djokovic was 19 and ranked 63 when he first played against Nadal at the French Open in 2006. The Serbian ace had to settle for the bronze medal when Nadal claimed a historic gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Eyeing his first Olympic gold at the Paris Games, Djokovic has not won a single title this year. “I’m very relieved,” Djokovic said after meeting Nadal for the 60th time in men’s singles. “Everything was going my way, I was 6-1, 4-0 up but I played a sloppy service game and gave him chances. I never thought back in 2006 that we’d still be playing each other almost 20 years later,” Djokovic added.