Paris 2024 Olympics: Djokovic defeats Nadal in their 60th and likely last head-to-head clash

Novak Djokovic, who won, and Rafael Nadal, who lost, met at the net and embraced after their match at the Paris Olympics, the 60th — and likely last — match of a record-breaking and often nail-biting rivalry between two tennis greats who share a mutual respect, if not a close friendship.

Djokovic’s 6-1, 6-4 victory came only in the second round of the Summer Olympics — not in a Grand Slam final like the nine previous head-to-head meetings — and it wasn’t the most thrilling of matches, save for a 20-minute break in the second set when Nadal’s final push briefly tied the game after he had lost 10 of the opening 11 games.

After that, neither Nadal, who is 38, nor Djokovic, who is 37, have been willing to admit they won’t play each other again, even though that seems likely. Nadal certainly looks like he could be close to retirement; he’s had two injury-plagued seasons, needed hip surgery just over a year ago and said in 2023 that 2024 would be his farewell.

But that’s not the end of his appearances at these Olympics – he will play alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the Spanish national team and on Monday he said he was a little tired of being asked about his future every day.

“I can’t live every day with the feeling that this will or won’t be my last match. I come here, I try my best, I play. And when I decide to stop playing or when I decide to continue, I’ll let you know. I don’t know,” Nadal said. “If I feel like I’m not competitive enough to continue or physically I’m not… ready to continue, I’ll stop and let you know.”

It was clear for the first hour and a half of play against Djokovic that Nadal had fallen off form, failing to match even the talented and hard-working version of himself who won a record 14 French Open trophies on the same red clay of Roland Garros that hosts the Summer Olympics.

He admitted this after leaving Court Philippe Chatrier, where fans repeatedly tried to encourage him by chanting “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!”

“Playing against Novak without hurting him and without the legs he had 20 years ago is almost impossible,” said Nadal, whose right thigh was taped before each match in Paris.

Djokovic was asked if this could mean the end of the direct rivalry between the pair.

“Of course, yes, but we don’t know. It really depends on many different factors,” the Serb said. “I just hope that for the good of our rivalry and the sport in general, we can meet once, maybe several times, on different surfaces, in different parts of the world, because I feel that it can benefit the sport. But I don’t know how he feels in his body, what his plans are.”

Djokovic has 24 Grand Slam titles to Nadal’s 22, the two highest totals for men in the sport’s more than 100-year history. Both have been No. 1s, and no pair of men have played each other more often in the professional era. They make up two-thirds of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis, along with Roger Federer, who retired with 20 Grand Slam titles, a group that has enjoyed unprecedented success and sparked endless debates about who is the “GOAT” — the “Greatest of All Time.”

But Nadal, a singles and doubles gold medalist at previous Olympics, and Djokovic, who says adding gold to his glittering résumé is a priority, are used to meeting — and fans are used to seeing them meet — in the latter stages of events. This time, it happened much earlier, because while Djokovic is the highest seed at the Olympics, Nadal is ranked outside the top 150 due to a lack of matches.

The place was packed, from the press areas, where there was a fight for space, to the top seats on the upper deck for what seemed like a historic occasion. Rapper Snoop Dogg sat next to tennis icon Billie Jean King; Vogue editor Anna Wintour was with film director Baz Luhrmann.

“You could feel the tension in the match, but also the incredible buzz, the incredible atmosphere,” Djokovic said. “There was a lot of interest in the match. People wanted to see it live. People wanted to see it on TV as well. I was just very proud to be a part of that match.”

After a dull period, the indefatigable Nadal finally got down to work, turning the tournament into something competitive, which certainly surprised no one – least of all Djokovic.

“If you give him time, he can hurt you. We know that. I’ve experienced that in the past,” Djokovic said. “I started to hesitate a little bit with my shot. He stepped in. The crowd got involved.”

Nadal won four games in a row in the second set, including a forehand winner that broke to make it 4-all. He raised his left fist, drawing cheers from the crowd.

But that was when Djokovic regained control. He broke to the right, then pointed to his left ear as he walked to the sideline, as if to mock Nadal’s fans, and served out the victory.

Part of Nadal’s problem Monday was that he wasn’t at his best. And part of the problem, to be sure, was that Djokovic was mostly the best version of himself, hitting the ball precisely, placing it exactly where he wanted it and occasionally using drop shots to set up winners and keep Nadal running.

Djokovic wore a gray sleeve on his right knee, just as he did when he reached the Wimbledon final three weeks ago. He tore his meniscus at the French Open in early June and underwent surgery in Paris.

None of that mattered on this warm afternoon under a cloudless sky, with temperatures in the 80s. People in the stands waved to fans, trying to stay cool; both players wore cold, white towels around their necks during shifts.

“He played much better than me,” Nadal said, “from start to finish.”