Rafael Nadal will bid farewell to Olympic tennis on the clay courts of Roland Garros, the site of many of his greatest triumphs, as Novak Djokovic strives to keep the golden generation of tennis alive.
At 38, Nadal, who has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles in Paris, faces the relentless march of time. His ranking has dropped to 161 following a disappointing early exit from the French Open last month. As an unseeded player at the Olympics, he might encounter top seed Djokovic as early as the second round in their 60th meeting.
“Roland Garros is the most special place in the world of tennis for me,” Nadal said. He clinched Olympic singles gold in Beijing in 2008 and doubles gold with Marc Lopez in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Nadal leads Djokovic 30-29 in their head-to-head record but has won eight of their ten encounters at Roland Garros, including their most recent match in the 2022 quarter-finals. That victory contributed to Nadal’s 22nd Grand Slam title and was his latest of 92 career singles trophies.
Nadal will begin his Paris Olympics campaign against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, ranked 83rd.
Djokovic, who has only a bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is coming off a straight-sets defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, missing out on a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title. Djokovic has not won a title since last year’s ATP Finals and has had a challenging 2024. Jannik Sinner, who replaced Djokovic as the Australian Open champion and world number one, and Alcaraz, who claimed the French Open title, have both made significant strides.
Djokovic, starting his Olympics against Matthew Ebden of Australia, will seek to leverage his French Open successes, having won titles in 2016, 2021, and 2023.
With Roger Federer retired, Nadal nearing the end of his career, and Andy Murray set to retire after the Olympics, Djokovic faces competition from the new generation, led by Alcaraz and Sinner. Should Djokovic fail to defend his US Open title in September, it would mark the first time in 22 years that none of the “Big Four” have won a Grand Slam.
Alcaraz, with four Grand Slam titles to his name, begins his first Olympics against 275th-ranked Hady Habib of Lebanon. He and Nadal will team up for doubles, potentially facing Murray, who will play his final singles event before retirement and compete in doubles with Dan Evans.
Defending Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, seeded third, faces Jaume Munar of Spain, while Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev, competing in Paris as a neutral due to the invasion of Ukraine, will meet Rinky Hijikata of Australia.
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek, fresh off her fourth French Open title, starts against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu. Swiatek, who was eliminated in the second round at the Tokyo Olympics, is a favorite for gold.
US Open champion Coco Gauff, who missed Tokyo due to Covid, faces Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.
Like Murray, former world number one Angelique Kerber of Germany will retire after the Games. She will compete in a first-round match against Japan’s Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion.
The Olympic tennis events will commence on Saturday.
