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Nadal and the acceleration of history

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal, 38, looks at Rafael Nadal, 22, the 2008 Beijing champion, during the draw for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games / SEBASTIÁN FEST
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PARIS – When your name is Rafael Nadal and you are one of the greatest sportsmen ever seen, you attend the draw for a tournament in person, which rarely happens, and the result is the very serious possibility of a second-round meeting with Novak Djokovic, your toughest rival, one thing is very clear: history is accelerating.

That’s what happened to Nadal this Thursday, lunchtime in Paris, at the start of his latest adventure at the Olympic Games. The photo at the top of this article reflects it clearly: the 38-year-old Nadal, with thinning hair, looks down at a photo of the exuberant Nadal who at 22 won gold in Beijing 2008. There would be another gold, in doubles at Rio 2016, an absence at Tokyo 2021 and this return at Paris 2024.

This time, Nadal is back in singles and doubles, in this case in the company of Carlos Alcaraz, a duo that has already won the Olympic Village: the number of selfies they are asked to take is overwhelming. The doubles paired them in the opener with Argentineans Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzales, eighth seeded. But, as Nadal often says, ‘he who’s good is good’, and that goes for the doubles as well.

Australian Matthew Ebden took the @_claymagazine post on social media, which talked about the serious possibility of a Nadal versus Djokovic second-round match, with great humour. Ebden will be the Serb’s opponent in the opener.

‘No faith for me in first round?’ asked Ebden wryly, forced into the same fate as Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics: it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t want a Nadal versus Djokovic. And that involves sacrifice from the Australian and the Hungarian.

If that happens, in the early days of Paris 2024 there will be a highlight of proportions. The last Nadal – Djokovic match dates from the quarter-finals of Roland Garros 2022, one of the best matches the Spaniard has played in the final stretch of his career: 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) on a night when the Serb saw the crowd celebrate his double faults.

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‘This year I didn’t get a chance to spend too much time at Roland Garros,’ Rafael Nadal quipped, referring to his first-round loss to Germany’s Alexander Zverev. Just two months later, courtesy of the gods of Olympus, the Spaniard has a second chance on the stage that made him a sporting legend: 14 Grand Slam titles.

A legend that grows to 22 Grand Slam titles, only behind Djokovic’s 24. To see them together at the Philippe Chatrier is, among other things, to see 46 Grand Slam trophies in the same match.

Rafael Nadal observes the draw for the Olympic tennis tournament at the very moment of the draw / SEBASTIÁN FEST

Nadal’s farewell to Paris? In his heart of hearts, the Spaniard wants to return one last time, in 2025, but it is not him, but his physique that has the last word.

Seven years ago, in 2017, Nadal told the Tennis Topic site that he couldn’t see himself anywhere near taking part in the 2024 Olympics.

‘I’ve been playing for 300 years, if I go, I’ll go as a coach. I don’t see myself competitive,’ he said.

On Wednesday night, Spanish radio station Cadena COPE played that audio to Nadal to tell him he was wrong, that he was as a player in Paris 2024. Nadal, deft as he is with his racket, ended up winning the duel: ‘Well, you see, it’s just that the competitive thing…’.

Thus, with few words, he implied that despite having reached the final last week in Bastad, the level of tennis he showed is poor, and he needs more, much more, if he does not want this step by Roland Garros to become a very short one again.

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If he overcomes the debut and Djokovic does the same, it will be the 60th match between the two in a remarkably balanced head to head, 30-29 in favour of the Serb, who dreams of the Olympic gold that never hung around his neck. It could also be the last, the final chapter in one of the great rivalries of all time.

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