Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and his longtime rival Rafael Nadal could face off in the second round of the Paris Olympic tennis tournament. The draw, announced Thursday, sets up a potential early clash between the two legends.
Djokovic is set to play Australian Matthew Ebden in the first round, while Nadal faces Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. Should both advance, the two titans of tennis will meet in a highly anticipated second-round match. Nadal, 38, has a storied history at the French Open, winning a record 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles there. He also claimed gold in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in doubles with Marc Lopez at the 2016 Rio Games.
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“Roland Garros is the most special place in tennis for me. I am enjoying the fact I am back for the Olympics,” Nadal said after the draw. “I am just trying to enjoy every single moment.”
The draw also features other notable matchups. French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz will face Hady Habib of Lebanon, and top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland is up against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania. American Coco Gauff, the reigning US Open champion and second seed, takes on Australian Ajla Tomljanović. Gauff, making her Olympic debut, will also serve as a flag bearer for the U.S. team alongside basketball star LeBron James at the opening ceremony.
In other first-round matches, Naomi Osaka of Japan will play Germany’s Angelique Kerber, and Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini of Italy faces Ana Bogdan of Romania. American Jessica Pegula, seeded fifth, is drawn against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic.
Men’s and women’s first-round play begins Saturday. Notably, Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked Italian, withdrew due to tonsillitis. Other key matchups include Stefanos Tsitsipas against Zizou Bergs of Belgium and Stan Wawrinka against Pavel Kotov.
The tournament also sees two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray withdrawing from singles but partnering with Dan Evans in men’s doubles. “The Olympics have been incredibly special to me. I’m really happy I get to do this one more time,” Murray said.
In doubles action, Nadal will team up with Alcaraz against the sixth-seeded Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. Tsitsipas will play alongside his younger brother Petros against the Portuguese pair Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral. The top-seeded American women’s doubles team of Gauff and Pegula will face Australians Daria Saville and Ellen Perez.
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