PARIS-. Rafael Nadal He met with the Serbian Novak Djokovic in the second round of men’s tennis Paris Olympic Games-2024 by beating Hungarian Marton Fucsovics this Sunday, in an intense match that put to the test the physical discomfort he felt during the week.
The Mallorcan kept the suspense about his participation in the Olympic singles tournament until the last moment, but he dispelled it on the court by beating the Hungarian 6-1, 4-6 and 6-4.
His bandaged right hand did not prevent him from beating a player who is in the last places of the ‘Top 100, but who fought hard, nor from winning in a duo with his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in his doubles debut on Saturday.
Connected from the first point with the exultant energy transmitted to him from the almost full stands of the Philippe Chatrier centre, Nadal started strong, broke in the second game and did not stop until he was 3-0 up.
The Hungarian set the record for the home team, but it was just an attempt that was minimized by the superior tennis of a Spaniard who moved quite well, despite his problems with Fucsovics’ drop shots, and served firmly to sign a 6-1 in the first set.
Owner of the Roland Garros centre court, a Grand Slam in which he is the most successful with 14 titles, ‘Rafa’ saw his rival go ahead 3-0 in the second set, showing a good level and betting on moving Nadal all over the court.
Nadal tried to resist but the Hungarian took the set 6-4.
With renewed energy, the player who has won 22 major tournaments, arrived well in the third, but he wasted two points of calm and the Hungarian went 2-1 up. It didn’t matter, the Spaniard was determined to take the win and with a strong fist he broke the serve of a tough rival to go 3-2 and get a little closer to the duel with ‘Djoko’.
With no respite from his rival, Nadal imposed his experience to close the duel with a partial score of 6-4.
In the second round, Djokovic awaits him, hoping to add to his record of 24 Grand Slam tournaments the Olympic gold that has eluded him.
The Spaniard will be looking for his third gold medal after being Olympic champion in singles in Beijing-2018 and in doubles with Marc López in Rio-2016.
Source: AFP