PARIS (AP) — On the clay court where he won 14 French Open titles, Rafael Nadal likely said goodbye to Roland Garros on the third day of the Paris Olympics.
Nadal was cheered by a cheering crowd on Monday as he faced Novak Djokovic in the second round of the men’s tennis tournament for a record 60th time, and likely the last.
The shadow of Serbian Novak Djokovic during his match against Spaniard Rafael Nadal. Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
The Spaniard wouldn’t say whether he planned to retire after the Olympics, but his 6-1, 6-4 loss to Djokovic showed how diminished his game is at 38. Chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” started as soon as Nadal took the court and helped him win four straight games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break and make it 4-4.
After his defeat, the double Olympic champion was tired of being asked about his future. He is still competing in the Olympics, in a duo with Carlos Alcaraz for Spain, and he does not know what awaits him next.
Rafael Nadal faces Novak Djokovic in the first round of the men’s singles at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at Roland Garros. Photo by Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
“I can’t live every day with the feeling that this will or will not be my last match. I come here, I do my best, I play. And when I decide to stop playing or continue, I’ll let you know. I don’t know,” Nadal said. “If I feel that I’m not competitive enough to continue or that I’m not physically ready to continue, I’ll stop and I’ll let you know.”
South Africa’s Tatjana Smith reacts after beating third-placed Mona Mc Sharry of Ireland. Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters
Ukraine’s Olga Kharlan reacts after winning her bronze medal match against South Korea’s Sebin Choi. Photo by Maye-E Wong/Reuters
Women’s cross country silver medalist Haley Batten of the United States and gold medalist Pauline Ferrand Prevot of France celebrate their medals at Champions Park in front of the Eiffel Tower. Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
Filipe Toledo of Brazil retrieves a barrel at Teahupo’o in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Photo by Ben Thouard/Pool via REUTERS
Canadian Brandie Wilkerson in action. Photo by Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters
Germany’s Dang Qiu in action during his round of 32 match against Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko. Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters
CoCo Cruises
Coco Gauff is making it look easy at the Paris Olympics so far, adding a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle in the second round of the singles to her growing collection of lopsided results.
American Coco Gauff in action during her first round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. Photo by Claudia Greco/Reuters
Gauff committed more than twice as many unforced errors (26) as winners (11). She hit just 55 percent of her first serves and finished with six double faults and no aces. And even though it took defending US Open champion and world No. 2 Gauff nearly an hour and a half to overcome an opponent ranked 85th, who has never won a singles title on the tour and is 0-2 in her career at Grand Slam tournaments, she was satisfied.
“To be honest, you can’t argue with the score,” said the 20-year-old American.
Super swim
Canada’s Summer McIntosh won her first gold medal with a commanding victory in the 400-metre individual medley. The 17-year-old won her first medal of any colour on the opening night of swimming competition, taking silver in the 400-metre freestyle behind Ariarne Titmus and ahead of Katie Ledecky.
She picked up the pace during the first half of the grueling race — the butterfly and backstroke — leaving everyone in her wake except American Katie Grimes.
Canadian gold medalist Summer McIntosh holds the Canadian national flag during the medal ceremony. Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
Grimes, who is also competing in the open water event in Paris, held on to win silver and the Americans also took bronze when Emma Weyant finished third.
Another teenager reigns
David Popovici made it 2-for-2 for the teenagers that night when he claimed a thrilling victory in the men’s 200m freestyle.
The 19-year-old Romanian was one of three swimmers who shared the lead in the final lap. Popovici did everything he could to reach the wall just two hundredths of a second ahead of Britain’s Matthew Richards, with American Luke Hobson just 0.07 seconds behind to take bronze.
Romanian David Popovici in action. Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters
The top four were separated by just 0.15 seconds.
Australia wins again
Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus completed a double for Australia in the women’s 200 metres freestyle.
O’Callaghan’s victory denied Titmus his second consecutive gold medal at these Games. Titmus won gold in the 400-metre freestyle on Saturday.
Men’s Team All-Around Final
The Japanese men’s gymnastics team won Olympic gold with an epic comeback over their main rival.
With China looking set to win its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation remaining, Japan pulled ahead to win the men’s team competition after an intense and thrilling duel.
Japan’s Takaaki Sugino, Wataru Tanigawa, Shinnosuke Oka, Kazuma Kaya and Daiki Hashimoto celebrate with their coaches after winning gold. Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
The Japanese overtook their rivals in the final rotation after China’s Su Weide fell twice from the horizontal bar. Japan won by a narrow margin of 0.532 points.
The Americans, for their part, won bronze, their first medal since 2008.
Qualifying in fifth place, the Americans ended a 16-year drought, to the delight of dozens of fans waving American flags and chanting “USA! USA!” throughout the evening.
Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto in action on the horizontal bar. Photo by Paul Childs/Reuters
The Americans scored a total of 257.793 points and edged out Great Britain for the bronze medal.
U.S. women’s water polo team loses
The U.S. women’s water polo team suffered a rare defeat at the Olympics, falling 13-11 to Bea Ortiz and Spain in a rematch of the Tokyo Games final.
The United States is seeking its fourth consecutive gold medal. No team, men’s or women’s, has won four consecutive Olympic water polo titles. This is the program’s second loss at the Olympics since losing the 2008 final. Its record was 5-0-1 in London, 6-0 in Rio de Janeiro and 6-1 in Tokyo.
After their 10-9 loss to Hungary in the 2021 group stage, the United States has won four straight by a combined score of 63-26. That included a 14-5 crushing victory over Spain in the final.
China dominates diving
China has overtaken the once-world powerhouse United States for the top spot in diving gold medals after Lian Junjie and Yang Hao won the 10-meter platform synchronized event, China’s 49th gold medal in history.
China came into the Paris Games as favorites in all eight events and were all but certain to break the American record for most gold medals. The Big Red Machine is now 2 for 2 at these Olympics and looking to become the first country to sweep all eight events since the program was doubled at the Sydney Games in 2000.
Junjie Lian and Hao Yang of China in action Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
Since that expansion, China has won 40 of 50 gold medals, including seven of eight at each of the last two Summer Games.
There hasn’t been a tidal wave in diving since the United States won gold in all four events at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Canadian soccer team appeals sanction
Canada has appealed FIFA’s decision to strip it of six points over a drone spying scandal at the women’s soccer tournament, with a verdict expected hours before the team plays its final group stage match on Wednesday.
FIFA sanctioned reigning Olympic champion Canada on Saturday, suspending coach Bev Priestman and two assistant coaches for a year over allegations they used a drone to spy on New Zealand’s training sessions.
The expected legal action by the Canadian soccer federation and the Olympic body was officially registered Monday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport as part of an expedited procedure.
CAS said it planned to hold an appeal hearing on Tuesday and that its three-judge panel would deliver its verdict at noon on Wednesday. The coaches’ bans are not part of the case.
Canada will face Colombia in Nice on Wednesday night and will need to know where they stand before the game begins.
Swimming triathlon cancelled again
Concerns about the water quality of the Seine River have led authorities to cancel the swimming portion of an Olympic triathlon training session for a second consecutive day.
Organizers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim in the city’s famous waterway when the competition begins Tuesday.
General view of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine River on July 28, 2024, taken from the start of the triathlon after training was cancelled due to water quality concerns. Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
The sport’s governing body, World Triathlon, its medical team and city officials are counting on sunny weather and warmer temperatures to bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria below the limits needed to hold the swim portion of the race, which also includes the bike and run.
The World Triathlon organization decided to cancel the swim Monday morning, following a meeting on the water quality of the Seine, which is closely linked to the weather. Rain poured down on the opening ceremony on Friday and the showers continued on Saturday.