Athletistic / Tennis. In sports, as in life, unfortunately, everything tends to end sooner or later. With the help of modern science, medicine and work on oneself, the end of a career can be delayed, but sooner or later everyone will have to take this step. It seems that such a moment has come in the career of the legendary Rafael Nadal.

Rafa has had problems with his body for the past two years – constant injuries haunt the Spaniard and made him drop out of the top 100 of the ATP rankings. However, Nadal decided not to give up and still tried to get back in shape, return to the ATP tour and loudly slam the door. It is likely that this cotton should have taken place during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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Paris holds a special place in Nadal’s life and career. It was here that Rafa won his first Grand Slam tournament, it was here that he broke all sorts of records, it was here that he rightfully received the title of “King of Clay”. Perhaps the fact that the tennis tournament at the 2024 Olympics will be played on clay tipped the scales in favor of Nadal continuing to play tennis at a professional level. The Spaniard came to the Olympics in the French capital with the intention of becoming a three-time Olympic champion.

In the first round of the Olympic tennis tournament, Nadal defeated the strong Hungarian Marton Fucsovics with difficulty (6:1, 4:6, 6:4). But already at the next stage of the competition, by the will of the lot, Rafa found himself with the first seed of the 2024 Olympics, Serbian Novak Djokovic.

This was the 60th face-to-face meeting between Novak and Rafa. Until July 29, 2024, the Serb led in their confrontation with a score of 30-29, but on clay, the Spaniard had a noticeable advantage – 20-8. What a pity that fate brought these legends together so early.

Photo source: IOC

Novak Djokovic is only one year younger than Rafael Nadal. The Serb holds the record for men’s Grand Slam victories (24 titles), while Nadal remains his main pursuer in this race (22). However, Rafa has something that Novak does not have and that he dreams of so much. The fact is that Nadal managed to become a double Olympic champion during his career (Beijing 2008 in singles and Rio 2016 in doubles), but Djokovic has only the bronze from the Beijing Olympics in his collection. Many experts and journalists have claimed over the past two years that for Djokovic, the 2024 Olympics in Paris are the main tournament for the rest of his career. While Rafa suffers from injuries, Novak remains the powerhouse of world tennis and has won three Grand Slam tournaments in 2023, but lost in the final of the fourth.

Already the first set answered all the questions. The opening match ended with a score of 6:1 in favor of the Serb. It cannot be said that Nadal was hopelessly inferior to his opponent, but it was in the decisive moments that it was obvious that Djokovic was simply stronger than his opponent.

In the second game, Nadal tried to reverse the tide of an unsuccessful match, began to take risks, but lost the first four games. However, Rafa, in his usual manner, did not give up playing and managed to turn 0:4 into 4:4. However, that was all, Novak won the next two games and closed the question of the winner of the match.

The thriller did not work. Tennis players spent only 1 hour and 43 minutes on the court, and Djokovic dropped the game only for a few games. Nadal’s condition could not but affect his actions on the court. If before the start of the match it was presented as a battle of legends, then in fact Djokovic had a good warm-up before the decisive stages of the Olympic tournament.

Photo source: IOC

Rafael Nadal said in November 2023 that the 2024 season would be the last of his professional career. While this decision was controversial at the time, it has become clear now that Rafa may have overstayed his welcome. Tennis needed to end early, and the most successful moment for this came in early June 2022, when Rafa won Roland Garros for the 14th time thanks to injections.

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But it is interesting to note that Nadal’s path to the 2024 Paris Olympics is not over. On July 30, he will face, with Carlos Alcaraz, the Dutch Tallon Grixpoor and Wesley Koolhof in the second round match of the 2024 Olympics in doubles. It is quite possible that Rafa’s song has not yet been sung and it is in tandem with Alcaraz that Nadal will be able to end his legendary career on a high note.

And Novak Djokovic, in the match with Nadal, showed that he is still in action and, having recovered from surgery, is ready to fight for the Olympic gold medal. The Serb dreams about it and is obviously ready to do anything to achieve it.

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic