Prime-seeded Novak Djokovic beat the 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in a blockbuster second spherical matchup at Roland-Garros.
Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on the Olympic Video games, claiming a 6-1, 6-4 victory within the pair’s sixtieth and doubtlessly final assembly.
It was 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic’s thirty first win in a rivalry that started on the identical Roland-Garros clay courts in 2006.
Nadal was largely outclassed within the much-anticipated encounter on Monday, solely coming briefly to life when he gained 4 video games in a row within the second set.
“I’m very relieved,” mentioned Djokovic. “Every little thing was going my means, I used to be 6-1, 4-0 up however I performed a sloppy service sport and gave him probabilities.”
He added: “I by no means thought again in 2006 that we’d nonetheless be enjoying one another nearly 20 years later.”
In an indication of the damage and tear the pair have endured in latest months, Djokovic wore a protecting strapping round his proper knee whereas Nadal’s proper thigh was closely strapped.
However Djokovic performed freely, forcing Nadal to scamper round Courtroom Philippe Chatrier, the place the Spaniard had collected 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles.
The 37-year-old Serb raced to a 4-0 lead, on the again of a double break, and held for 5-0 earlier than Nadal stopped the rot a lot to the reduction of a packed, sweltering crowd.
Djokovic pocketed the one-sided opener when 2008 Olympic gold medallist Nadal ballooned a forehand large of the mark.
The statistics made grim studying for the 38-year-old Spaniard, who managed to eke out simply 4 factors off the Djokovic serve within the first set.
There was no respite for Nadal, enjoying simply his seventh event of an injury-plagued season, as Djokovic once more carved out a double break for a 4-0 lead within the second set.
Djokovic, looking for a primary Olympic gold medal so as to add to his 24 Grand Slam triumphs, surprisingly handed Nadal a lifeline when he served up a double fault to be damaged for the primary time.
Nadal retrieved the second break to claw his means again from 0-4 to 4-4 as the highest seed went immediately off the boil.
Djokovic responded in fashion, a drop shot leaving Nadal flat-footed because the Serb broke for 5-4 on a fourth break level and clinched victory in fashion with an ace.
Regardless of his defeat on Monday, Nadal nonetheless has hopes of a gold medal within the males’s doubles the place he’s enjoying alongside Carlos Alcaraz.
