A rivalry that began in 2006 at Roland Garros ended yesterday with Novak Djokovic routing Rafal Nadal at the Olympic Games with a 6-1, 6-4 victory at the same court on Monday.
Djokovic celebrated his victory on X, (formerly twitter) saying, “Glad our epic rivalry is still a blockbuster, @RafaelNadal. Good luck in the doubles.”
Nadal, who won 14 grand slams at Roland Garros, however, still found himself clueless on clay against the Serbian who had a lead of 6-1 in the first set and 4-0 in the second set.
The classic duo were physically in the same wear and tear condition, with Djokovic’s protective strap around his right knee and Nadal’s right thigh highly strapped. This marked the pair’s 60th and potentially last meeting against each other.
Nadal, who was largely overshadowed by Djokovic, overcame briefly and won four games in a row in the second set.
But Djokovic’s jolly disposition and frisky play made Nadal rally around the Court Philippe Chartier.
“I am very relieved,” said Djokovic.
He continued, “Everything was going my way, I was 6-1, 4-10 up but I played a sloppy service game and gave him chances. I never thought back in 2006 that we’d still be playing each other almost 20 years later.”
In the second set, Djokovic also gave a helpline to Nadal to break his double fault for the first time, and then the latter clawed his way back from 0-4 to 4-4.
In the fourth break point of the fifth game, Djokovic pulled a drop shot in a style that had left Nadal awkward with the Serbian leading the set with 5-4 and then winning the next game with an ace having the score of 6-4 against 2008 gold medallist Rafal Nadal.
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