Nadal falls with honours to Djokovic!

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Guillaume Nonque

le 29/07/2024 à 14h45

1 min to read

Djokovic Jeux Olympiques Nadal

As expected, Novak Djokovic was too strong for Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But the Spaniard put up a good fight in the 2nd set. The Serb won in 1 hour, 43 minutes and two sets (6-1, 6-4).

Even if Djokovic's victory cannot be disputed, the level of play at times revived memories of the jousts the two men engaged in up until two years ago. Less solid from the baseline, without being ridiculous, Nadal was initially dominated by the Serb, who was in no mood to let his opponent gain confidence (6-1, 4-0).

This was the moment the Spaniard chose to show that he was still capable of playing his best tennis. Not with enough consistency, and still with some limitations in his movement speed, but enough to win a few magnificent points and insinuate doubt into his opponent's brain.

So much so, in fact, that he managed to win four games in a row to draw level with "Nole" (4-4), before finally succumbing to a few inaccuracies on the forehand and another imperious Djokovic.

For the world n°2, the next round will be played against Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated Arthur Fils, or Dimonik Koepfer. For Nadal, the Paris Olympics are not over, as he is still competing in doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz.