Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the 60th, and possibly last match together of the two great rivals with nothing but respect for each other.
This 6-1, 6-4 victory for Djokovic came in the second round of the Summer Games rather than a Grand Slam final, like nine previous head-to-head encounters, it was an easy match for Djokovic.
Afterward, neither Nadal, who is 38, nor Djokovic, 37 was not willing to accept that they might not okay each other again.
Nadal certainly seems close to retirement; he has had two injury-filled seasons, needed hip surgery a little more than a year ago, and spoke in 2023 about 2024 being his farewell.
But he’s not done at these Olympics, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles for Spain, and said Monday he was a bit tired of getting asked every day about his future.
“I cannot live every single day with the feeling that it’s going to be, or not going to be, my last match. I come here, I try my best, I play. And when I decide to stop playing, or when I decide to keep going, I will let you know. I don’t know,” Nadal said.
“If I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going or physically I am not … ready to keep going, I will stop, and I will let you know.”
One thing is sure. He was definitely not in his best shape against Djokovic.
“Playing against Novak without creating damage to him, and without having the legs of 20 years ago, is almost impossible,” said Nadal, whose right thigh has been taped up for his matches in Paris.
Djokovic was asked whether this might mark the end of head-to-head competition between the pair.
“Of course it can be, but we don’t know that. It really depends on many different factors,” Djokovic said.
“I just hope for the sake of our rivalry, and the sport, in general, that we’ll get to face each other once, maybe a few times, on different surfaces, in different parts of the world, because I feel like it can only benefit the sport. But I don’t know how he feels in his body, what his plans are.”
Novak admitted thst he was slowly losing a brother on the pitch.
“It’s tough to be close, honestly greatest rivals, and you don’t want to maybe give insights to your life or the way you feel and stuff because that can maybe expose you and stuff,” Djokovic said.
“I guess that’s one of the reasons why maybe we didn’t connect so close and I don’t think at that level you can really connect so close to anybody, but who knows when the career ends for both of us. It’s a long life hopefully for both of us, and [we’re] both family people and hopefully we can address the different side of [our] relationship and reflect on things that we went [through] together, that we lived together, the special moments in a different way.”
