RAFAEL Nadal set up an Olympic Games blockbuster against Novak Djokovic on Sunday, shrugging off lingering injury concerns as fellow Grand Slam warrior Andy Murray prolonged his career with a miraculous doubles comeback.
Nadal, who has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles on the clay at Roland Garros, defeated 83rd-ranked Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round despite sporting strapping on his injured right thigh.
His meeting with 24-time major winner Djokovic will be the 60th of their storied careers.
“Of course it’s beautiful to play against one of the two biggest rivals that I had in my career, especially on this court,“ Nadal said.
“But situations are completely different for him, for me. He’s being very competitive. I was not being very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favourite.”
On a sun-drenched Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal raced through the opening set with breaks in the second and sixth games.
However, Fucsovics levelled the contest on a third set point in the second with Nadal briefly appearing to feel discomfort with his bandaged thigh.
Nadal, the 2008 Olympic singles gold medallist and doubles champion in Rio eight years later, was in trouble early in the decider.
But he stormed back with a key break in the fifth game of the decider on his way to victory.
Nadal had opened his final Olympics campaign on Saturday, partnering Carlos Alcaraz to victory in their first match together.
He then cast doubt on his singles commitments after picking up a thigh injury in training, insisting he would “make the smartest decision that I can to have the best chance of bringing a medal home”.
Nadal and Djokovic have played 10 times at Roland Garros, first meeting in 2006, with Nadal leading the pair’s head-to-head 8-2 in the French capital.
Former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner Murray pulled off an astonishing escape act with doubles partner Dan Evans, saving five match points in the deciding tie-break against Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel.
The 37-year-old has confirmed that the Paris Olympics will be his last tournament, and it looked as if he was on his way out for the last time when the Japanese pair took a 9-4 lead in the tie-break.
But Murray, a two-time gold medallist in Olympic singles in 2012 and 2016, and Evans claimed the final seven points for a scarcely believable 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 11/9 win.
He described the performance as “up there” with his best fightbacks.
“I have turned around a lot of matches that I looked unlikely to win. I have always had that mental toughness and strength,“ said Murray.
- Pull-outs -
The overall quality of the Olympic tournament again raised questions on Sunday, as three more players dropped out of the first-round draw.
Australia’s sixth-ranked Alex de Minaur withdrew after failing to recover fully from a hip injury at Wimbledon, although he remains committed to doubles.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie, a former top-10 player, was another scratch, as was 47th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina in the women’s singles.
Coco Gauff, the USA flagbearer alongside LeBron James in Friday’s opening ceremony, breezed past Ajla Tomljanovic in her Olympic debut, having missed the pandemic-delayed Tokyo tournament with Covid.
Alexander Zverev kicked off the defence of his title with a routine win over Spain’s Jaume Munar 6-2, 6-2, while Stefanos Tsitsipas needed three sets to get past Zizou Bergs of Belgium.
Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka, a 2008 doubles gold medallist with Roger Federer, steamrolled Pavel Kotov to avenge his second-round loss at this year’s French Open.
Among other winners Sunday were seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen, Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins, who all progressed by spending less than an hour on court each.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova won her first match at Roland Garros since lifting the French Open trophy in 2021, defeating Sara Sorribes Tormo in three sets.
