The 60th duel between Novak Djokovic et Rafael Nadal took place this Monday at the Paris Olympic Games. But the expected clash had a hard time getting started. Uncertain due to an injury, the Spaniard was unable to develop his tennis in the first set and therefore did not worry Novak Djokovic at all. The Serbian, world number two, pocketed it 6-1, 6-4. The second set started on the same basis, with Djoko leading 4-0, but Rafa came back to 4-4 before being broken again at that point. The world number two concluded on his serve.
Court Philippe Chatrier may have hosted Rafael Nadal’s very last singles match on “his home turf”, or even in his career.
Novak Djokovic now leads Nadal 31 wins to 29, and it is very likely that these numbers will never change again.
In the round of 16, Djoko will face the winner of the duel between Koepfer and Arnaldi. The next big thing could be Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, barring a surprise on one side or the other.