Tennis players from left, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, Rafael Nadal of Spain, Angelique Kerber of Germany and Andy Murray of Britain attend the tennis official draw ceremony, at the Paris Olympics 2024, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
PARIS — Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic could meet in the second round of the tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics — which might end up being the last event of Nadal’s career.
Djokovic was drawn Thursday against Australian Matthew Ebden in the first round, and Nadal faces Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, with the winners of those matches meeting next. The Summer Games’ tennis competition begins Saturday at Roland Garros, and Djokovic’s opening singles match is that day.
Nadal is scheduled to play doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday night, but he won’t get started in singles until Sunday.
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The 38-year-old Nadal won a record 14 of his 22 major trophies at the French Open. He has won two Olympic gold medals — in singles at Beijing in 2008, and in doubles with Marc López at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
“Roland Garros, as everybody knows, is the most special place in tennis for me. I am enjoying the fact I am back for the Olympics,” Nadal said Thursday. “I am just trying to enjoy every single moment.”
He has played sparingly over the past two seasons while dealing with hip surgery and abdominal muscle issues. It’s possible he will retire after the Olympics, although Nadal has not said exactly what his plans are.
French Open champion Alcaraz takes on Lebanese player Hady Habib in the first round of singles on Saturday, before teaming up with Nadal later on Day 1.
Rafael Nadal of Spain, center, speaks on stage as tennis players from left, Andy Murray of Britain, Angelique Kerber of Germany, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland look on as they attend the tennis official draw ceremony at the Paris Olympics 2024, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Djokovic, a 24-time major champion from Serbia, and Alcaraz could meet for the singles gold in Paris, which would be a rematch of their contest in the Wimbledon final this month. Alcaraz won that one for his fourth Grand Slam title.
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland faces Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in the first round of the women’s draw, with second-seeded American Coco Gauff taking on Australian Ajla Tomljanović, who defeated Serena Williams at the 2022 U.S. Open in the 23-time Slam champ’s final match.
Gauff is the reigning U.S. Open champion and is making her Olympic debut. She is a flag bearer for the U.S. team at Friday’s opening ceremony along with basketball star LeBron James. She will be the first tennis athlete to carry the U.S. flag.
Djokovic and Swiatek have not won Olympic gold.
Djokovic’s only Olympic medal was a bronze at Beijing 16 years ago.
Swiatek has won the French Open four of the past five years on the same clay courts at Roland Garros.
Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka of Japan takes on three-time major champion Angelique Kerber of Germany.
Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who is seeded fourth, returns to the courts where she lost the French Open final to Swiatek and takes on Romanian Ana Bogdan. No. 5-seeded American Jessica Pegula plays Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic — seeded ninth — is drawn against Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo. The 2022 Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina — seeded third — plays Romanian Jaqueline Cristian. No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who won the French Open here in 2017 for her only major, faces Colombian Camila Osorio.
Men’s and women’s first-round play begins Saturday, and the top-ranked man won’t be playing. Jannik Sinner, a 22-year-old from Italy, pulled out on Wednesday because of tonsillitis.
Eighth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open runner-up to Djokovic, takes on Belgian Zizou Bergs, and three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland is up against Pavel Kotov.
Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, seeded 11th, plays French veteran Gael Monfils. Two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway, the No. 6 seed, takes on Taro Daniel of Japan.
Also, it’s No. 4 Daniil Medvedev of Russia vs. Rinky Hijikata of Australia, and No. 7-seeded American Taylor Fritz vs. big-serving Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
Tokyo Games champion Alexander Zverev of Germany plays Jaume Munar of Spain.
Two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray has withdrawn from singles but will play in men’s doubles alongside Dan Evans in his adieu from tennis. They face Japanese pair Japan’s Daniel and Kei Nishikori.
The 37-year-old Murray, a three-time Slam champion, won gold in singles at London in 2012 and Rio four years later. Since having hip replacement surgery in 2019, he has struggled with various injuries and withdrew from singles at Wimbledon because he needed a procedure to remove a cyst from his spine.
“The Olympics has been incredibly special to me. I’m really happy I get to do this one more time,” Murray said Thursday. “I just ran out of time really (to play singles), but happy to be in the doubles with Dan and we play well together.”
In women’s doubles, top-seeded American pair Gauff and Pegula drew Australian pair Daria Saville and Ellen Perez.
In men’s doubles, Nadal and Alcaraz will open against sixth-seeded Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Tsitsipas teams up with younger brother Petros to face Portuguese pair Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral.