PARIS — Watching Rafael Nadal at the French Open is like watching Simone Biles on the beam or Keith Richards onstage, nostalgic and thrilling no matter the outcome, no matter how many times you’ve seen it before.
Nadal still asks for three balls from the ball kids on every point. He still taps the red clay off his heels three times before every serve — right foot, left foot, right foot. He still fidgets with his headband, shirt and wristband in exactly the same way. When he moves, he whips his forehand around so quickly that the racket seems to bend, and he skids across the red clay with the steady grace of an Olympic figure skater.
Against many other opponents, Rafael Nadal might still be able to summon up some of the old magic. Against Novak Djokovic, he’s just trying to hold back the sunset.
Djokovic and Nadal met for the 60th time on Monday, this time in the second round of the 2024 Olympics at the famed Roland-Garros, in a match that veered from sad to thrilling to inevitable. They’ve orchestrated classic battles before, including several on this very court, but this Olympic matchup — the 38-year-old Nadal’s final Olympic appearance, and perhaps his final battle with Djokovic — wasn’t one of them. Djokovic won the first five games of the first set, and the first four of the second, before Nadal rallied back for one last ride. He tied the second set at 4 before giving up a break and succumbing. Final score: Djokovic over Nadal, 6-1, 6-4.
They’ve spent the last decade-plus battling one another for historical supremacy, these two, with 43 Grand Slam titles between them. Prior to Monday, Djokovic held a one-match edge, 30-29. But Nadal holds a clear career advantage against Djokovic — and every other human being on earth — at Roland-Garros; Nadal brought a 7-2 edge on the red clay into this match. It was clear from the start, though, that historical supremacy alone wasn’t nearly enough, not anymore.
The two legends took the court at 1:42 p.m. local time under a cloudless blue sky, with a searing — for Paris — first-toss temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Nadal entered the court first, and neither man acknowledged the other as they passed at center court. Both wore white shorts and red shirts with the highlight colors of their national flags — Djokovic, Serbian blue; Nadal, Spanish yellow.
But the only opponent more fearsome than Djokovic is Time, and Time is starting to pile up the points against Nadal. He battled back from Love-40 in the first game to force deuce, but lost two points later. His serve lacked its classic pop; his strokes drifted a touch long, a touch wide; he found the net far too often to survive.
Djokovic, meanwhile, may have lost a step or two, but that still leaves him miles ahead of nearly everyone else on earth. His aggressive shotmaking kept Nadal on the back foot all afternoon long, and his demeanor was that of a boa constrictor, encircling Nadal with winner after relentless winner until the outcome was clear long before the final score reflected it. When he blew a second-set hammer past Nadal, all the Spaniard could do was clap his hand to his strings in defeated appreciation.
Nadal can still turn up some gems.. Down 3-0 in the first set, he forced deuce with a drop shot so delicate and precise it could have landed in a teacup and not splashed a drop. Down 5-1, he slid and sent a curling return deep into the right corner, out of Djokovic’s reach, and all Djokovic could do was give him a you-got-me thumbs-up as the ball flew past.
As Nadal struggled to find his shot, flailing and double-faulting, the Roland-Garros crowd tried to rally the Spaniard, chanting “RA-FA!” and “El Magnifico!” and “Ole!” And for a moment, it worked; Nadal battled back from down 4-0 in the second set to
But in the end, the fans’ pleas went unanswered. Roland-Garros has new gods now. Nadal has won 14 French Opens, but it seems unlikely he’ll ever add to that total. He has two gold medals — one for singles in 2008, one for doubles in 2016 — but he’s said this will be his last Olympics. He’s still alive in doubles — he and Carlos Alcaraz make for a fearsome duo — but his Olympic singles days are done.
On the final switchover, down 5-4 in the second set, Nadal still jogged out to the baseline — a little slower, yes, but still running toward his fate.
Sunset is coming for Rafael Nadal, but it’ll have to chase him down.
