Paris Olympics 2024: Novak Djokovic hands straight sets defeat to Rafael Nadal in clash of icons

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the clash of the giants in the Paris Olympic Games 2024. The two stars met each other for the first time after two years in Paris and Djokovic dominated his long-time rival in the second round of the singles event on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The Serb tennis star went past the Spanish icon in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour and 43 minutes in what could be Nadal's final singles game at Roland Garros. Djokovic eased past Nadal in the opening set to win it by 6-1 as he broke the Spanish icon twice in it. He led 5-0 before Nadal pulled one game back only to lose the seventh one on the Serb's serve.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion also dominated the 22-time major winner in the second set too. Djokovic broke Nadal twice to lead by 4-0 again before the Roland Garros champion player bounced back and broke Djokovic twice to put things in parity at



4-4. However, he could not hold his serve with Djokovic winning the set on a backhand and then served to close the match.

Djokovic will now face the winner of the second-round clash between Matteo Arnaldi and KOEPFER Dominik. The top-seeded Djokovic is in hunt for his first Olympic Gold medal and has only a bronze to his name at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Nadal was put in a spot of bother in his first round too when he conceded a set to Hungary's Marton Fucsovics. After winning the opening set 6-1, Nadal went down in the second one 4-6 before bouncing back and clinching the decider 6-4.

However, this is not the end of the road for Paris-favourite Nadal as he is alive in the doubles event alongside countryman Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal and his younger compatriot defeated Argentina's sixth-seeded Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the opening round in straight sets.