Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal; neither concedes rivalry over

Novak Djokovic, who won, and Rafael Nadal, who lost, met at the net and hugged after playing at the Paris Olympics in the 60th — and quite possibly last — installment of a record-breaking and often riveting rivalry between two tennis greats who share a mutual respect if not a close friendship.

This 6-1, 6-4 triumph for Djokovic came in the second round of the Summer Games rather than a Grand Slam final, like nine previous head-to-head encounters, and it was not the most scintillating contest, other than for a 20-minute interlude in the second set, when Nadal’s final push made things briefly competitive after he ceded 10 of the initial 11 matches.

Afterward, neither Nadal, who is 38, nor Djokovic, 37, was willing to concede they won’t play each other again, even if it seems unlikely they will. Nadal certainly seems close to retirement; he has had two injury-filled seasons, needed hip surgery a little more than a year ago, and spoke in 2023 about 2024 being his farewell.

But he’s not done at these Olympics, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles for Spain, and stated Monday he was a bit tired of getting asked every day about his future.

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“I cannot live every single day with the feeling that it’s going to be, or not going to 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 keep going, I will let you know. I don’t know,” Nadal said. “If I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going or physically I am not … ready to keep going, I will stop, and I will let you know.”

What was clear for the first 1½ hours versus Djokovic is that Nadal was diminished, nowhere near the skilled, hustling version of himself that won a record 14 French Open trophies on the same red clay at Roland Garros that is hosting Summer Games matches.

He acknowledged as much after leaving Court Philippe Chatrier, where fans repeatedly tried to encourage him with chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!”

“Playing against Novak without creating damage to him, and without having the legs of 20 years ago, is almost impossible,” said Nadal, whose right thigh has been taped up for his matches in Paris.

Djokovic was asked whether this might mark the end of head-to-head competition between the pair.

“Of course it can be, but we don’t know that. It really depends on many different factors,” Djokovic said. “I just hope for the sake of our rivalry, and the sport, in general, that we’ll get to face each other once, maybe a few times, on different surfaces, in different parts of the world, because I feel like it can only benefit the sport. But I don’t know how he feels in his body, what his plans are.”

Djokovic also dismissed the idea of a “brotherhood” with Nadal, while acknowledging his respect and appreciation for his rival and his career.

“It’s tough to be close, honestly greatest rivals, and you don’t want to maybe give insights to your life or the way you feel and stuff because that can maybe expose you and stuff,” Djokovic said.

“I guess that’s one of the reasons why maybe we didn’t connect so close and I don’t think at that level you can really connect so close to anybody, but who knows when the career ends for both of us. It’s a long life hopefully for both of us, and [we’re] both family people and hopefully we can address the different side of [our] relationship and reflect on things that we went [through] together, that we lived together, the special moments in a different way.”

Djokovic owns 24 Grand Slam titles and Nadal 22, the two highest men’s totals in the century-plus history of the sport. Both have been ranked No. 1, and no pair of men has played each other more often in the professional era. They are two-thirds of the so-called big three of men’s tennis, along with Roger Federer, who retired with 20 Slam titles, a cohort that enjoyed unprecedented success and prompted endless debates about which is the GOAT.

But Nadal, a gold medalist in singles and doubles at past Olympics, and Djokovic, who says adding a gold to his otherwise glittering résumé is a priority, are accustomed to meeting in the latter stages of events. It happened much earlier this time because while Djokovic is the top seed at the Olympics, Nadal’s ranking is outside the top 150 on account of a lack of matches.

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