Nadal, Djokovic fighting time and new generation of tennis stars at Paris Olympics
Swiatek is the hot favourite to win the gold medal in the women’s event
SPANISH tennis superstar Rafael Nadal will bid farewell to the Olympics on the famous clay courts of Roland-Garros – the scene of the greatest moments in his trophy-laden career – as Novak Djokovic attempts to prevent the sun setting on tennis’ golden generation.
The 38-year-old Nadal has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles in Paris, but he knows time is not on his side as he tries to add to that tally. Just last month, he suffered his earliest exit from the French Open as he was bundled out in the first round by Alexander Zverev.
Battered by exhausting, career-long battles with injuries, the former world No 1 has seen his ranking slump to 161.
As a result, he is unseeded at the Olympics and could come up against the top seed Djokovic as early as the second round, in what would be the pair’s 60th meeting.
“Roland-Garros is the most special place in the world of tennis for me,” said Nadal, who won Olympic singles gold at Beijing 2008 and doubles gold with Marc Lopez in Rio eight years later.
Djokovic leads Nadal 30-29 in their head-to-head series.
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But Nadal has won eight of their 10 meetings at Roland-Garros, triumphing in their most recent clash in the 2022 quarter-finals.
That win helped propel Nadal to a 22nd major title. It was also the most recent of his 92 career singles trophies.
Nadal starts his Paris Olympics campaign against Hungary’s 83rd-ranked Marton Fucsovics.
Djokovic has traditionally struggled at the Olympics, with just a bronze medal from Beijing 2008 to show for his efforts.
The Serb arrives in Paris smarting from a straight-sets loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final as he was foiled in his bid to win a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title.
Without a title since last year’s ATP Finals, Djokovic is enduring a torrid 2024 by his standards.
Jannik Sinner, missing from the Olympics with tonsillitis, succeeded him as Australian Open champion and eventually as the world’s top-ranked player. Meanwhile, Alcaraz, still only 21, took the French Open title.
Murray farewell
Djokovic, who starts his Olympics against unranked Matthew Ebden of Australia, can at least be confident in his French Open pedigree with three titles in 2016, 2021 and 2023.
With Roger Federer long retired, Nadal deep in the twilight of his career and Andy Murray leaving for good once the Olympics are over, Djokovic finds himself facing down the new generation spearheaded by Alcaraz and Sinner.
Adding to the pressure for Djokovic is knowing that should he fail to successfully defend his US Open title in September, it will be the first time in 22 years that none of the “Big Four” have secured a Grand Slam crown.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz, who already has four Grand Slam titles, starts his first Olympics against 275th-ranked Hady Habib of Lebanon.
Alcaraz and Nadal are teaming up in doubles for the first time in Paris, where they could find Murray on the other side of the net later in the tournament.
Murray, who won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, will not play singles in Paris, his last tournament before he retires.
The 37-year-old former world No 1 and three-time Grand Slam winner said he “just ran out of time” in his bid to be fit for singles after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst on his back.
Instead, he will play doubles with Dan Evans.
Zverev, the defending Olympic men’s champion who is seeded third this year, takes on Jaume Munar of Spain.
Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev, playing in Paris as a neutral following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will meet Rinky Hijikata of Australia.
Gold for Swiatek?
Women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek, returning to the scene of her fourth French Open title triumph last month, begins against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
The 23-year-old Pole, dumped out in the second round at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, is the hot favourite for gold.
US Open champion Coco Gauff, who missed Tokyo as she had Covid-19, takes on Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.
Like Murray, fellow former world No 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany will retire once the Games are over. The 36-year-old was a silver medallist in singles at Rio 2016.
In a first-round clash of mothers, 36-year-old Kerber faces four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan.
The tennis competition begins on Saturday (Jul 27), with the first matches scheduled to start at 6pm (Singapore time).
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