Monday’s match was likely the pair’s last, after the two former world No 1s played against each other 60 times in their careers.
ADVERTISEMENTSerbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated Spain’s Rafael Nadal on Monday in the second round of the men’s tennis singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Djokovic won 6-1 in the first set and 6-4 in the second, dominating his rival throughout the match.
Both have been ranked No 1, and no pair of men has played each other more often in the professional era.
Sometimes nicknamed “King of Clay”, Nadal has only lost five out of 117 matches at Roland Garros — three of them to Djokovic.
The tennis greats have won 46 Grand Slam titles between them, with Nadal boasting a record 14 French Open trophies.
While Nadal is a two-time Olympic champion, beating Djokovic en-route to singles gold at Beijing 2008 and then winning the men’s doubles at Rio 2016, Djokovic has not yet tasted Olympic victory.
They are two-thirds of the so-called “Big Three” of men’s tennis, along with Roger Federer, who retired with 20 Grand Slam titles.
The trio enjoyed unprecedented success, which prompted endless debates about which one was the “goat” or the greatest of all time.
