Novak Djokovic may take on his biggest rival, Rafael Nadal, already in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and he reacted to the possible meetings.
Since the men's singles draw for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris came out, there was one matchup that probably every singles tennis fan in the world wanted to see - the match between two players that met already 59 times on the ATP Tour.
There is no doubt that Djokovic and Nadal have formed probably the greatest rivalry in the history of the sport, and the draw in Paris gave them a chance to write one more chapter, and where else than at the Roland Garros grounds.
In his first-round singles match, Djokovic easily outplayed Matthew Ebden from Australia, who served as an alternate after withdrawals of multiple singles players, not having played a singles match since 2022.
That means the half of the highly-anticipated second-round matchup was completed, and now, Nadal needs to beat Marton Fucsovics in his first-round match to complete the matchup.
After his first match in the French capital, the 37-year-old Serbian was asked about his possible second-round opponent, to which he funnily responded that his 'part of the job' was done.
"Yeah there is a great hype around that (potentially meeting Nadal in the second round). I mean, I did my part of the job and obviously he has to win his first round (match). I've got to get ready for that one obviously, it can be a blockbuster."
The 24-time major winner was also aware of the fact that probably all tennis fans wanted to see the match between him and his 38-year-old rival from Spain.
Although both are past their prime, it's a legendary matchup that will never get old, even if they play an exhibition as 50-year-olds. Seeing his rival struggling with injuries, and his own age getting closer to 40 than ever before, Djokovic called their possible matchup as 'last dance'.
"It's one of the matches or one of the events I guess that a lot of people at the Olympics in Paris this year are looking forward to. When the draw came out, we knew that there is a high probability that it might happen, so I'm ready for it. I'm looking forward to our last dance so to say, possibly on this court."
Since the Serbian played his first-round singles match at the 2024 Olympic Games, his great rival also appeared on the court, winning his first-round doubles match with Carlos Alcaraz.
After his match, the Spaniard was also asked about the possible second-round singles matchup with Djokovic, and he was also told his words about the possible 'last dance'.
Teasing that he feels competitive maybe for a couple more years on the ATP Tour, Nadal responded in a fashion that surprised some of the reporters, but also delighted his fans.
"Who says that's last dance?"
0 Comments