Djokovic beats Nadal at the Olympics live (2024)

Novak Djokovic overcame a brief wobble in the second set to beat 14-times French Open champion Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 at the Paris Olympics to progress into the third round.

Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam singles titles in his distinguished career but is yet to win an Olympic gold. He started at a thundering pace, only losing one game in the opening set, but was made to work far harder by Nadal in the second set.

But he ultimately overcame Nadal’s fightback — as well as an occasionally hostile French crowd — to win their record-extending 60th encounter.

As well as this live blog, The Athletic is also running one covering the swimming, with Americans Lilly King and Ryan Murphy, plus Ariarne Titmus and Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh.

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In the tennis, Iga Swiatek of Poland moved on to a 23-match winning streak at Roland Garros with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of France's Diane Parry, while Croatia's Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic overcame a resurgent Bianca Andreescu of Canada in straight sets.

Fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez had better luck, beating Spain's Cristina Bucsa, also in straight sets.

Coco Gauff followed up her thrashing of Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic by beating Argentina's Maria Carle 6-1, 6-1, while compatriot Jessica Pegula faces Elina Svitolina of Ukraine later.

Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who beat Vekic in a classic at Wimbledon, saw off Poland's Magda Linette, while Zheng Qinwen of China took out Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber, who will retire after the Games, needed three match points and three sets to beat Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.

Given how off the pace Nadal looked for much of this match, it would be understandable to worry about his chances of doing much in the doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.

Doubles though is a very different beast to taking on the mighty Djokovic in singles, and assuming he hasn’t suffered a fresh injury, Nadal should still be competitive alongside the Wimbledon and French Open champion.

As Andy Murray showed on Sunday night, it’s possible to be a way off competing in singles but still able to make a fist of it in doubles.

Nadal is in much better shape physically than Murray, so will be hopeful he can lift himself to have some joy — and that will be the hope of the wider tennis world too, desperate to see Nadal make a few more memories at the venue which he has so dominated over the last two decades.

Court Philippe-Chatrier had all the feel of a massive occasion. Blue skies. Hot sun. A standing room-only crowd. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battling on the court.

What unfolded was something far more typical of Novak Djokovic’s second-round matchups, not just because of the lopsided scoreline but because of how he overwhelmed his opponent. The same things that so often happen to these unlucky souls also happened to Nadal on Monday afternoon.

Djokovic defanged Nadal’s serve, sending him backpedaling instead of moving into the court. He made him play extra ball after extra ball, until Nadal was trying to hit the perfect shot from a position on the court where that is a nearly impossible task.

Djokovic meanwhile minimized his mistakes, mostly because his opponent didn’t force him to hit too many shots from spots on the court where mistakes happen.

All of that added up to a great spectacle, but aside from some stunning points and the late flourish from Nadal down 4-1 in the second, not much of a tennis match. That’s about what happens for Djokovic in his second rounds.

With Djokovic leading 6-1, 4-0 the main hope for Nadal was that he could avoid losing a bagel set to the Serbian for the first time in his career. He managed to do that by holding serve for 4-1, and everyone on Chatrier breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Then things got a little weird. Djokovic, so solid throughout, threw in a horrible game and double-faulted when down break point to reduce the deficit to 4-2.

A minor aberration perhaps, but then at 4-3, suddenly Djokovic had to deal with scoreboard pressure for the first time in the match. The tension in Djokovic was most painfully obvious when he made a mess of a smash that set Nadal up for an easy forehand to break for 4-4.

What on earth had just happened? Nadal raised his level for sure, but on a sweaty Parisian day this really felt like a rare case of Djokovic feeling the heat.

The biggest problem for Nadal during this latest, and perhaps, last comeback, has been his vulnerability on his serve.

The injuries to the middle of his body and his back the past two years have contributed to a major decline, and against the best returner in the history if the sport, that figured to be a problem.

The warning sign that this could be an ugly afternoon for Nadal occurred in the very first game. With Nadal facing break point, he nailed a 115 mph serve, one of his hardest of the day down the middle of the court. Against a lot of players, the ball doesn’t come back.

Djokovic stretched for it and stabbed a forehand at Nadal’s feet. Nadal missed his forehand wide after it ticked the net, and Djokovic had the advantage he would never come close to giving up. It was a microcosm of Nadal’s afternoon.

For pretty much everyone watching this formerly great rivalry suddenly turn into a mismatch, it was hard not to feel sympathy for Nadal.

That was not the case for Djokovic, and with good reason. Not only does he have an Olympic gold medal to win, but he has suffered more heartbreak on this court at the hands of Nadal than most, losing to him eight times.

Djokovic made sure to exploit the 14-time Roland Garros champion’s most glaring weaknesses on occasion after occasion. Djokovic ruthlessly took advantage of Nadal’s movement with a string of devastatingly effective drop shots.

Nadal’s first-round opponent Marton Fucsovics had also tried the tactic, a pretty obvious one against a 38-year-old battling injuries, but Djokovic’s drop shot is in a different league to that of the Hungarian.

He relished being the man handing out the punishment rather than receiving it, even using it to restore order and go up 5-4 in the second set after Nadal made the match more competitive.

Novak Djokovic dispatched Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympic’s men’s singles at Roland Garros on Monday.

In the 60th meeting between two of the greatest tennis players of all time, who share 46 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic showed Nadal no mercy, in the biggest test of the Spaniard’s level since 2022, when he won the French Open on this very court, beating Djokovic in the quarterfinal.

Despite a stunning run of four games in the second set in which Nadal showed flashes of his old self — and exploited the scar tissue he has inflicted on Djokovic over the years — the Serbian recovered to see out the second set.

It takes Djokovic’s head-to-head against Nadal to 31-29, and extends his quest for an Olympic gold medal, the one major honour in tennis that still eludes him. The Athletic’s writers, Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman, analyze the match and what it means.

Well at least it was competitive for a few games. At 6-1, 4-0 that threatened to get ugly.

But then Nadal raised his level and Djokovic visibly tightened up against his great rival.

Djokovic will be hugely relieved to have that one out of the way.

The match last one hour, 43 minutes today.

For a three-set match, it was ultimately over rather too quickly for our liking.

Though Nadal did fight back bravely.

Nice to see. Rafael Nadal tried his hardest today, played his heart out but ultimately came up short today.

He has a smile on his face as he soaks up the rapturous applause of the fans on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros.

Nadal bows out - Djokovic progresses into the next round.

Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4 Rafael Nadal

That's it! A booming ace out wide and that's game, set, and match to Novak.

He shakes hands warmly with Nadal.

Novak Djokovic 6-1 5-4 Rafael Nadal

Djokovic, serving for the match, goes 15-0 up. Three points away, but he throws his hands down and audibly groans as he gets a little cramped for room and wallops a forehand needlessly into the net.

Big ace hits the chalk, 30-15, error from Djokovic, 30-all!

Nadal goes long, protests to his box - it's 40-30 and match point...

A hyped-up Djokovic asks for more noise from the crowd, clearly put out by the obvious support for his opponent, and he certainly gets it.

Boos ring out around Philippe-Chatrier, not totally widespread, but also not just one or two fans expressing their displeasure with his antics.

Interesting post-match interview on the way, I reckon...

*Novak Djokovic 6-1 5-4 Rafael Nadal

Djokovic goes 0-30 up and roars in delight, before Nadal pulls a point back to give the crowd hope at 15-30.

Oh, no, Nadal shanks a forehand down the line wide, and it's 15-40 with two break points to Djokovic. Danger.

Djokovic out, one saved; Djokovic responds to a drop volley from Nadal down the line... and Nadal volleys it away for deuce! The crowd are on their feet.

Argh, a terrible time for the ball to come off the wrong part of the racket, advantage Djokovic, the Serb nets, back to deuce.

Wonderful stuff from Djokovic: a rip-snorting forehand into the left corner, barely returned, a forehand whacked into the other corner with utter disdain. Emphatic. Then with advantage, he fashions a wonderful drop shot to get the break.

Well, well, well ... Nadal breaks again to even the set at four games apiece with a couple of stunning shots.

He's playing his best tennis of the day right now.

Novak Djokovic 6-1 4-4 Rafael Nadal*

Cheers as Nadal goes 15-0 up. And more as tentative play from Djokovic, who has gone off the boil recently, races to reach a drop shot, and gets there, but can only net after Nadal flicks one at an acute angle to his right at the net.

And 15-40! Two break points to Nadal... one saved after a massive serve out wide is unreturned. And... the point of the match! The point of the tournament?

WOW! Nadal is on the ropes, on the baseline, Djokovic has a simple overhand smash at the net to end the point but rather misplaces it, Nadal keeps it in, Djokovic can only pop it up, and Nadal thrashes a cathartic forehand winner past Djokovic to take the game!

4-0 down, we're now at 4-4 in the second set!

In tennis, the convention is that the returner breaks the server, but sometimes the server breaks themselves.

Novak Djokovic definitely broke himself at 4-1 up, playing a sloppy game to hand his opponent the initiative.

Bad news at the best of times; worse when that opponent has a statue at the venue, and perhaps the biggest crowd-pull of any tennis player anywhere on this very court.

Nadal has duly roared to life: can Djokovic settle down and turn this back into the routine victory that it has appeared for the duration?

Story of Novak’s life at Roland Garros. Big crowd completely in the tank for Rafa.

It’s not unexpected, especially now that they want to see more tennis and a decent match.

At Wimbledon on Centre Court earlier this month, Djokovic let it get to him and he trolled the crowd hard after the match.

Doubt he does that here but if Nadal steals the set it could be awkward.