Paris Olympic: Nadal To Face Djokovic In Highly Anticipated Match

Rafael Nadal has been booked for a highly-anticipated match against Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics.

This comes following a hard-fought victory over Marton Fucsovics in the opening round on Sunday.

Nadal, who was uncertain about participating in the singles due to a thigh injury, had to put in a lot of effort to secure a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win.

The 38-year-old seemed to be in control after dominating the first set on Court Philippe Chatrier, where he has won 14 French Open titles, but Fucsovics fought back.

Despite a slow start, the Hungarian ranked 83rd in the world, raised his game and pushed Nadal to a third set. Fucsovics had three break points to take a 3-1 lead in the final set, but Nadal managed to hold on and break back in the next game to regain the momentum.

A determined hold of serve brought Nadal closer to victory, and the 22-time Grand Slam champion eventually overcame a resilient Fucsovics after two hours and 30 minutes.

Nadal, a gold medallist in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and doubles champion in Rio four years later, is competing in only his seventh tournament of 2024.

Despite reaching the final in Bastad last week, a training setback on Wednesday put his participation in a fifth Olympics at risk.

Nadal teamed up with Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles on Saturday, with his right thigh heavily bandaged, and the pair won their first-round match in straight sets.