Rafael Nadal wins his debut and meets Djokovic in 2R | ATP Tour

Paris Olympics

Nadal wins in his debut and meets Djokovic in 2R

Báez, Navone and Etcheverry also made it through the first round

July 28, 2024

The 2024 Paris Olympics have a great treat in store for tennis fans. In the second round, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play the 60th chapter of their legendary rivalry.

The appointment was confirmed this Sunday, after the Spaniard began his third Olympic experience with a hard-fought victory against the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics by 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 32 minutes.

Nadal, who already won the singles gold medal in Beijing 2008 and the doubles gold medal in Rio 2016, recorded his twelfth victory of the season. The 38-year-old from Manacor arrived in the French capital as a recent finalist at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

This time, in his solo debut on the clay of the Philippe Chatrier, he had the toughest first round he has ever faced at the Games. In Rio, he needed one hour and 26 minutes to beat Federico Delbonis 6-2, 6-1, while in Beijing he had to fight for two hours and 15 minutes against Potito Starace 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

And the first set did not foreshadow anything of what was to come, as the Spaniard needed just 32 minutes to take a 6-1 lead. However, Fucsovics, who had no previous Lexus ATP Head2Head against Nadal, was able to recover in the second set, taking a 3-0 lead and preventing Nadal from reacting when he was serving at 5-4 to level the set.

The decisive set had multiple alternatives in the form of break points. Nadal missed two in each of his first two return turns, but it was not until the fifth game that he managed to break. The Spaniard had to save another four to consolidate the lead on the scoreboard (4-2) and end up sealing his passage to the second round.

Now, the former PIF ATP Rankings No. 1 will face Djokovic again for the first time since 2022, in precisely the same venue: the Roland Garros quarter-finals. The Serbian leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head by 29-30.

Pedro Martinez, meanwhile, was unable to join Nadal and Alcaraz — who have already qualified — against Andrea Vavassori. The Italian won a hard-fought match 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and will be the opponent of No. 6 seed Casper Ruud.

Meanwhile, Argentines Tomás Etcheverry and Mariano Navone also secured their place in the second round of the Paris Olympic Games.

World No. 35 Etcheverry defeated Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6(7), 6-2, while Navone defeated recent Bastad champion Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-2, 6-2.

Etcheverry will try to advance to the round of 16 against Roman Safiullin, who defeated Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-4; while Navone will face No. 11 seed Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated local Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-4.

Sebastian Baez added his name to the list in the second round, beating Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes. The world No. 18 extended his personal record of matches won this season on clay to 25.

Did you know…?

Rafael Nadal on Sunday recorded his 1,080th career victory in 1,306 matches, raising his success rate on clay to 90.6% throughout his professional career.