Serbia’s Novak Djokovic triumphed over a brief moment of anxiety in the second set to defeat Rafael Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, with a score of 6-1 6-4 at the Paris Olympics on Monday. This victory propelled Djokovic into the third round of the tournament.
Djokovic, who boasts an impressive record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles but is still in pursuit of an elusive Olympic gold medal, left no room for uncertainty. He relentlessly unleashed powerful groundstrokes and executed flawless drop shots, causing Nadal, who is 38 years old, to show signs of his age as Djokovic surged ahead with a commanding lead of 6-1 4-0.
Despite Nadal’s historic dominance at this venue, he managed to rally and level the score at 4-4, much to the delight of the home crowd. They eagerly anticipated an exhilarating showdown between two of the sport’s greatest players, who were facing each other for an unprecedented 60th time.
However, Nadal’s precision and consistency faltered at this level, and he was unable to impede Djokovic’s path to victory. In the end, Djokovic, at the age of 37, sealed his triumph on the first match point with an ace, leaving Nadal unable to counter.
