The greatest rivalry in tennis history resumes tomorrow after a two year hiatus as Novak Djokovic will clash with Rafael Nadal in an Olympic second round showdown.
It will be the 60th time these two tennis titans will wage tennis warfare. Djokovic leads the near to decade long series 30-29.
The last match the two played was the quarterfinals at 2022 French Open, won by Nadal in four sets.
Djokovic appears to be in fine form after dominating Matt Ebden 60 61 in the first round, Nadal needed three sets to beat the mighty Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
As usual, the stakes are enormous. Djokovic, age 37, is gunning for his first Olympic gold medal, Nadal, 38, is eager to collect his third and fourth Olympic golds, in singles and doubles with his partner Carlos Alcaraz.
Prediction: Djokovic in two sets.
Novak Djokovic · Olympics · Rafael Nadal
Scoop Malinowski · July 28, 2024 at 10:47 pm
This will be the 29th match on clay between the two rivals and six of the last seven have been on clay. How the rivalry has tilted to so many clay matches can’t be a coincidence, the establishment may have influenced this favoritism for the king of clay.