By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Novak Djokovic was in his lethal form after crushing his old-time tennis nemesis Rafael Nadal- 6.1, 6.4- during their Paris Olympics showdown on July 29, 2024, held at the famous Philippe Chatrier clay court.
Entering their 60th head-to-head matchup since both living legends turned professional, it was the Serbian ace who captured the spotlight despite facing the Spanish superstar in his pet surface.
Nadal, who won most of his Grand Slam championship titles and ATP major awards in the clay surface, didn’t stand a chance against Djokovic who just displayed one of his best tennis performances in the most prestigious sporting event of the year.
Djokovic immediately put Nadal on his heels after scoring consecutive break points in the first set that broke the game wide open.
Despite the wide margin Djokovic established midway through the opening frame, the Serbian Olympic representative still went all out and wrapped up his 1-0 lead in dominant fashion.
However, in the second set, Nadal began to show some signs of life, hitting several down-the-line forehand bombs that kept him within striking distance.
From a horrible error-plagued showing in the first, Nadal picked up the much-needed confidence and heated up in the most crucial set of the match.
Just when Nadal started to gain his footing in their second-round Paris Olympics matchup, Djokovic spoiled his momentum when he broke his service to gain more cushion in the final three sets.
All hell broke loose when the fifth game set began as Nadal desperately haunted for his big forehand shots but Djokovic wisely returned the ball high enough to prevent any top spin kill set ups for the Spaniard stalwart.
In the final set showdown, Nadal tried to target Djokovic’s backhand side, but the eventual winner avoided any meltdown when he attacked the net and put the pressure back on team Spain.
