In possibly the last of their men's record 60 matches against each other, Novak Djokovic held off Rafael Nadal to win 6-1, 6-4 Monday on Court Philippe Chatrier and reach the round of 16 of the Olympic tennis singles tournament in Paris.
Nadal was staring at a lopsided defeat after falling into a 4-0 hole in the second set. But the Spaniard - as he's done so often at Roland Garros, the site of 14 of his 22 Grand Slam victories - dug deep to erase the deficit and tie Djokovic at 4-4.
Djokovic fought back and finally converted on his fourth break point to take the ninth game of the set. Nadal's comeback attempt ended shortly after.
But the 38-year-old's Olympics aren't over. He remains in the doubles side of the draw with partner Carlo Alcaraz. The two won their debut match Saturday, scoring a hard-fought straight-sets victory over Argentinian pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Djokovic will face either Germany's Dominik Koepfer or Italy's Matteo Arnaldi in the round of 16. The Serbian is trying to win Olympic gold for the first time.
With the win, Djokovic extends his record over his Spanish rival to 31-29.
It's unclear if Nadal will play another major singles match. Although he's on the entry list for next month's US Open, there's no guarantee he'll accept the invitation to play in New York.
Nadal has been playing sporadically over the past two seasons due to a series of injuries, missing five of the last seven Grand Slam events, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.
He hasn't made it past the second round of a major since 2022.
