Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-4 as two of tennis’ nice champions clashed within the second spherical of the Olympic males’s singles at Roland Garros.
The much-anticipated matchup between report 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic and Nadal, a 14-time winner of the French Open, initially proved to be a little bit of a moist squib as Djokovic breezed the opening set 6-1.
The Serb raced out right into a 5-0 lead as he broke Nadal in each of his opening two service video games. The Spaniard lastly held third time spherical to get on the board however was damaged twice extra to begin the second set.
At that stage, it regarded set to be a sorry exit for the 38-year-old Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion in his personal proper who has been suffering from accidents in recent times.
However, in what may show to be his final profession assembly with the one-year-younger Djokovic, Nadal rallied to placed on a present for the Paris crowd in attendance, breaking again twice to stage the second set at 4-4.
Sadly he could not keep his comeback, coughing up 4 additional break factors in his subsequent service recreation and, although he saved the primary three of them, Djokovic transformed the fourth earlier than serving out the match.
It means Djokovic nudges additional forward 31-29 within the pair’s 60 profession conferences, although Nadal holds the sting 5-4 of their 9 Grand Slam finals contested.
With victory, Djokovic retains alive his hopes of a primary Olympic gold medal, whereas Nadal, who received gold at Beijing 2008 – the place Djokovic took bronze – is left to concentrate on the lads’s doubles, the place he’s competing alongside world No 2 and four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz.
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