Rafael Nadal urged Carlos Alcaraz to reflect on his success and treasure his Olympic silver medal, despite a gut-wrenching defeat to Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Djokovic overcame Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) at Roland-Garros, securing the top prize at the Games on the clay courts in Paris.

The 21-year-old, who was denied the Olympic title to go with this year's French Open and Wimbledon crowns, was reduced to tears at the conclusion in the French capital.

Yet Nadal, who Alcaraz partnered in the men's doubles competition at the Olympics this year, says his fellow Spaniard will soon understand the feats of his achievement.

"Carlos, although I know that today is a difficult day, value a medal that is very important for the entire country and you will see, over time, that it is for you too," Nadal wrote on social media platform X.

"Thank you for this incredible week and for the medal that you [gave] to Spanish sport."

Djokovic is only the second player in the Open Era to win all four grand slams, the gold medal at the Olympics and the ATP Tour Finals, along with Andre Agassi.

At 37 years and 74 days, the Serbian is also the oldest player to secure gold in either the men's or women's singles at the Olympics, since the sport returned as an event at the 1988 Games.

This victory also somewhat exacted revenge after losing out to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final last month, while sealing a long-awaited dream of gold at his fifth Games for Serbia.

Novak Djokovic cut an emotional figure after putting "everything on the line" to secure gold at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

The 24-time major champion overcame Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) at Roland-Garros, securing the top prize at the Games for the first time in his career.

Djokovic is only the second player in the Open Era to win all four grand slams, the gold medal at the Olympics and the ATP Tour Finals, along with Andre Agassi.

At 37 years and 74 days, the Serbian is also the oldest player to secure gold in either the men's or women's singles at the Olympics, since the sport returned as an event at the 1988 Games.

Having settled for bronze in Beijing 16 years ago, Djokovic could not believe he had finally sealed a long-awaited dream.

"We almost played three hours in two sets. It was an incredible battle," the 37-year-old said after avenging his Wimbledon final defeat to Alcaraz last month.

"I believed that I could win, but to actually win it; it's unbelievable. He keeps on coming back and keeps on asking me to play my best tennis. 

"My first set I started well, I had chances, he had chances as well. It was probably fair to end both sets in a tiebreak. When it mattered I came up with big shots and big moments.

"I put my heart, my body, my soul, my family, my everything on the line here to win the Olympic gold at the age of 37.

"The pride to play for Serbia. Carlos and Rafa [Nadal] love to play for Spain, Andy [Murray] for Britain, Roger [Federer] for Switzerland. You just see the reactions when they win. It's special. It's different."

Alcaraz battled past Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, having also secured French Open glory at the same venue earlier this year.

However, a final stretch proved too far for the Spaniard.

"The truth is it was a very complicated game. Three hours of phenomenal fighting," a downbeat Alcaraz said.

"It's never easy. There were tough moments for me in the tiebreak and I just couldn't get my level up. It's very painful to lose today."

Andy Murray says he is proud of his double's comeback with Dan Evans after admitting it was a new career experience having to save five match points.

Team GB looked set to crash out of the Olympics in the first round, but a thrilling match instead saw them prevail 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 11-9 against Japan's Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniels.

Having already forced a tie-break in the second set, Murray and Evans had to dig deep once again in the decider after going 9-4 down, and remarkably saved five match points before booking their place in the next round.

Murray, who is set to retire at the end of the Olympics, lauded Evans for the part he played in the dramatic fightback that has prolonged his career by at least one more match.

"I don't think I've saved five match points in a row – in singles it's almost impossible to do that, so I don't think I've ever done that before," Murray said after their win.

"It's probably up there in terms of comebacks – probably the way we were playing to that stage would have not suggested we were able to come back.

"In my career, I've turned around a lot of matches I've looked unlikely to win or people thought I shouldn't have won - at times I've had that mental toughness, strength that was at times early on in my career was questioned.

"I'm really proud of that - I always try my best to fight and figure out ways to come through. I certainly couldn't have done that on my own today – as a team, Evo played his part in that.

"Evo has shown that before and helped me big time today. We both served well, came up with some great returns, and it was a brilliant turnaround."

Murray and Evans will face either Belgium's Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen or France's Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert in the next round.  

Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal did not disappoint in their much-anticipated doubles debut as they battled through to the second round of the Paris Olympic Games.

The Spaniards saw off Argentinian pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in straight sets 7-6 (6-4) 6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes on Saturday.

Alcaraz, who began the day with a victory in his singles debut, made a nervy start as he dropped his first serve, but Nadal soon helped to settle the nerves.

They got the vital break in the next game, though there was little to separate the teams after that with a tie-break necessary to put Alcaraz and Nadal in front.

Gonzalez and Molteni rallied in the second set, racing into a 3-0 lead, but could not prevent a fight back as Alcaraz and Nadal won the next three games.

After another vital break for the Spaniards at 4-4, Nadal then served out the match to set up a meeting with either Dutch pair Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof or Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan of Hungary.

Data Debrief: Living up to expectations

It is the match-up that everybody was waiting for at the Olympics, and despite a sluggish start, Alcaraz and Nadal soon turned on the style.

They hit 17 winners, and even though Alcaraz's first service game was not his usual best, they went on to win 46 of their 64 service points (72%).

Carlos Alcaraz raced into the second round of the singles tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, beating Lebanon's Hady Habib 6-3 6-1.

The Spaniard – who captured his fourth grand slam title at Wimbledon earlier this month – needed just one hour and 12 minutes to overcome Habib, who is ranked 275th in the world by the ATP.

Alcaraz had to save break point in the very first game but immediately set about putting Habib under pressure from there, getting a quickfire break to take control of the opener.

Habib hit just three winners throughout the first set, with 16 unforced errors costing him as Alcaraz served with supreme confidence, only dropping one point in a span of six games on his own serve.

Another break in the first game of the second set had Alcaraz truly in charge, and he gave nothing away from then on as he eased to victory.

He will face Britain's Cameron Norrie or the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the second round, with the duo yet to face off due to rain suspending play on the outside courts.

Data Debrief: Alcaraz goes from strength to strength

Returning to the scene of last month's French Open triumph, Alcaraz was barely troubled as he improved his record at clay-court events to 12-3 for the year.

He was far too good for Habib on Saturday, slamming 26 winners to his opponents' five and causing problems whenever he was able to get to the net, where he won 13 of 16 points on approach (81%).

He will return to the court to partner Rafael Nadal in the doubles later on Sunday, versus Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.

Novak Djokovic is thrilled by the prospect of meeting Rafael Nadal for "one last dance" at the Paris Olympics, if the Spaniard overcomes an injury setback to feature at Roland-Garros.

Thursday's men's singles draw saw Djokovic paired with Australia's Matthew Ebden in the first round, with Nadal taking on Marton Fucsovics.

The legendary duo – who have won 46 grand slam singles titles between them – will meet in the second round if they both advance through their openers this weekend.

Djokovic and Nadal have previously faced off on 59 occasions, with the Serbian winning 30 of those contests but losing four of the last six, the most recent being a Nadal victory in four sets in the 2022 French Open quarter-finals.

Nadal's participation at the Games was thrown into doubt when his coach Carlos Moya said he had suffered a "setback" on Thursday and required 48 hours of rest.

If Nadal – who is widely expected to retire later this year – does make the tournament, Djokovic is looking forward to the prospect of facing him for a 60th time.

"Obviously he hasn't played much. His ranking dropped, so there was always going to be that possibility of me meeting him in an early round and there we go," Djokovic said.

"It's going to be a spectacle, definitely, if we get to meet. We will spread some fireworks on the court, like the good old times. 

"I hope we get to meet because it will probably be one last dance for the both of us."

Djokovic is set to appear at his fifth Olympics in the French capital, the joint-most by any male player since the sport returned to the Games in 1988 (with Yen Hsun Lu).

He is the player with the most matches played (19) and joint-most matches won (13, level with Roger Federer) at the Olympics since 1988.

However, his best result at the Games remains a Bronze medal at Beijing 2008, when he was beaten by eventual gold medallist Nadal in the semi-finals.

Djokovic lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, also losing to Juan Martin del Potro at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Rafael Nadal may be facing another injury setback at the Paris Olympic Games after his coach warned over the Spaniard's fitness.

The 22-time major champion is widely expected to retire at the end of this year, though is preparing for a final swansong at Roland-Garros, where he has won 14 titles.

Nadal is set to play in the singles and doubles tournaments of the Olympics, partnering current French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz for the latter competition.

Yet his participation has become doubtful after coach Carlos Moya confirmed Nadal had cancelled his training session on Thursday due to a hamstring issue.

"It was a setback and we decided that today Rafa would rest and not train to recover," Moya said, as quoted by Spanish journalist Rafael Plaza.

"We are going to give ourselves 48 hours, we have to wait."

The 38-year-old is reportedly feeling soreness in both his left and right hamstring having pulled out of a scheduled practice session with Alexander Zverev.

Alcaraz had been partnering Nadal throughout the week during training on the clay courts of Paris, though the veteran's feature has now been thrown under a cloud of doubt.

Nadal is one of just two players to have won Olympic gold in both singles and doubles since the sport returned to the Games in 1988, doing so at Beijing 2008 (singles) and Rio 2016 (doubles).

In the singles in the French capital, Nadal has been drawn against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics in the opening round, and the prize could be a second-round date with long-term rival Novak Djokovic.

Rafael Nadal could face Novak Djokovic in a heavyweight second-round match at the Paris Olympic Games after the draws for the tennis tournaments were made on Thursday.

Nadal is widely expected to retire from tennis later this year, with the Olympics set to represent his swansong at Roland-Garros, where he has won 14 French Open titles.

He will play in both the singles and doubles tournaments, partnering current French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz for the latter competition.

Nadal and Alcaraz will face Argentina's fourth-seeded pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in a difficult first-round matchup in the doubles tournament.

Nadal is one of just two players to have won Olympic gold in both singles and doubles since the sport returned to the Games in 1988, doing so at Beijing 2008 (singles) and Rio 2016 (doubles) – Nicolas Massu triumphed over both events at Athens 2004.

In the singles, Nadal will take on Hungary's Marton Fucsovics in the opening round, and the prize could be a second-round date with Djokovic, who faces Australian Matthew Ebden first.

 

They are on the same side of the draw as third seed Alexander Zverev, who faces Jaume Munar first, and seventh seed Taylor Fritz, who opens against Alexander Bublik.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Alcaraz will start his campaign against Hady Habib, with Britain's Cameron Norrie a potential second-round opponent.

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev faces Rinky Hijikata in his first match, while fifth seed Alex de Minaur is a potential quarter-final opponent for Alcaraz.

Britain's Andy Murray withdrew from the singles event to concentrate on his doubles bid alongside Dan Evans on Thursday, and the duo will face Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel of Japan first.

Should they advance, home favourites Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert could await in round two, with Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul potential quarter-final foes, though the Americans will have to overcome Canada's Milos Raonic and Felix Auger Aliassime to get that far.

Murray and Evans cannot face Nadal and Alcaraz until the final. 

Iga Swiatek is the strong favourite in the women's draw, having won four French Open titles on the Paris clay. Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu is her round-one opponent.

On her same side of the draw, there is a huge round-one clash between Naomi Osaka and 2016 silver medallist Angelique Kerber, who announced on Thursday that she will retire after the Games.

Elena Rybakina and Danielle Collins are also on that side of the draw, while Coco Gauff starts against Ajla Tomljanovic on the opposite side of the bracket.

Andy Murray has confirmed he will retire after the Olympic Games in Paris.

The 37-year-old is set to compete in both the men's singles and doubles at what will be his fifth Olympics.

Murray first competed in Beijing in 2008 and won his first gold medal four years later in London with a straight-sets victory over Roger Federer.

He then became the first male player to win two singles titles at the Games by beating Juan Martin del Potro in Rio in 2016.

In a post on X, Murray wrote: "Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament.

"Competing for Team GB has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I'm extremely proud to get to do it one final time!"

Murray made his final appearance at Wimbledon, where he is a two-time champion, before the Olympics, suffering a first-round defeat with brother Jamie in the doubles.

He later received an emotional tribute on Centre Court to mark his achievements at the tournament. 

Rafael Nadal is "convinced" Carlos Alcaraz will be at a "great level" for the Olympics ahead of their anticipated doubles team-up.

The pair will be representing Spain at the upcoming Games in Paris, with both also participating in the singles event.

Nadal reached his first final since his French Open triumph in 2022 at the Swedish Open on Sunday, eventually losing out to Nuno Borges in straight sets.

He has previously won two Olympic gold medals though, his first in the singles at the 2008 Games in Beijing, and the second at Rio 2016 in the doubles.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz has won back-to-back grand slams this year, winning at Roland Garros in June before beating Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon earlier this month.

The 21-year-old is competing at the Olympics for the first time in his career ahead of the hard-court swing of the season.

Nadal admitted he was not happy with his performance level in the final in Bastad and is determined to improve to match Alcaraz's level.

"I'm really looking forward to being part of the Olympic team and representing Spain," Nadal said.

"This is the most important event in sport. I hope I can find the energy I need and do some good training.

"If I manage to play good tennis, I will also do so in doubles, but I must analyse well what happened this week and work hard.

"I am convinced that Carlos will be at a great level because he is coming in with confidence. We will train together this week."

Rafael Nadal felt his performance levels at the Swedish Open were "so far from what they should be", but was pleased to emerge from his run to the final in Bastad without any injuries.

The 22-time major winner reached his first ATP championship match since winning his 14th French Open title two years ago, losing out to Nuno Borges in straight sets.

Nadal saw off Leo Borg and Cameron Norrie, before battling past Mariano Navone and Duje Ajdukovic in three sets. However, he was no match for Borges, who was a commanding 6-3 6-2 winner in the final.

The injury-plagued Spaniard opted to skip Wimbledon to focus on participating in the forthcoming Paris Olympics, where he will play in the singles and doubles events.

And though he admitted he wanted to play better in Bastad, Nadal was thrilled to come through multiple demanding matches unscathed.

"The level was so far from what it should be. Probably, the energy too. It has been a long week with long matches," Nadal told reporters.

"I don't have damage [to my body], that's important - but mentally and physically, I'm not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.

"I need to analyse well and find the reason why I played that way, even if the energy wasn't right. Things like this can happen, and that's the situation.

"I played the final, that's positive. I was able to play long matches without having an injury. That's good.

"In some ways, I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played in the tournament during the whole week. That's something that I am not satisfied with."

Matteo Berrettini earned his second Swiss Open title on Sunday with a commanding straight-sets victory over Quentin Halys.

It took just 59 minutes for the Italian to dispatch the qualifier 6-3 6-1 in Gstaad for his ninth ATP Tour title.

The players were evenly matched through the opening six games, but Berrettini got a vital break in the seventh to swing momentum in his favour just before play was suspended due to rain.

When play was resumed half an hour later, Berrettini, who was 5-3 up, wasted no time regaining control, winning the next six games in a row.

Halys stopped himself from being on the wrong end of a bagel scoreline as he held off the former world number six in the penultimate game, but all he did was hold off the inevitable. 

Data Debrief: Berrettini reenters winner's circle

Berrettini lifted his second Tour title of the year, winning in Gstaad for the first time since 2018, having lost in his last final appearance in 2022.

He did not give Halys a sniff - he won nine games in a row to put himself out of reach, while also winning 33 of his 37 service points (89%) and getting four breaks.

Alexander Zverev will have a chance to defend his Hamburg Open title against Arthur Fils after overcoming Pedro Martinez in the last four on Saturday.

Zverev needed one hour and 25 minutes on court to beat Martinez 6-2 6-4, ending a run that saw the Spaniard eliminate seeds Matteo Arnaldi and Francisco Cerundolo.

The home favourite earned his first break in the third service game and followed up with another in the seventh, also winning 92% of his first-serve points in the opener as Martinez failed to apply any sustained pressure.  

Zverev broke again at the start of the second set before producing crucial holds in the second and seventh games, reaching his third straight clay-court final after also going all the way at the Masters 1000 in Rome and the French Open.

He will face Fils in the showpiece match after the Frenchman overcame Sebastian Baez by a 6-2 6-2 scoreline in just 67 minutes, reaching his first ATP 500 final.

Data Debrief: Zverev eyes Hamburg history

Zverev became just the second German to win the Hamburg title last year after Michael Stich in 1993, and he could now become the first to defend the trophy with Stich falling to Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the 1994 semi-finals.

Rafael Nadal insisted he was forced to "find a way to survive" to reach his first tour-level final since 2022 during his win over Duje Ajdukovic in Bastad. 

Nadal continued his preparations for the Paris Olympics by coming from a set down to reach the final of the Swedish Open on Sunday. 

The Spaniard will either play Thiago Agustin Tirante or Nuno Borges before travelling to France to try and claim a third gold medal at the games. 

Nadal's last tour-level final came at Roland Garros two years ago, where this year's tennis will be taking place during the Paris Olympics. 

Nadal's semi-final test came just a day after a gruelling four-hour win over Mariano Navone, the second-longest three-set match of his career.

The Spaniard was able to complete the victory in just two hours and 12 minutes, but insisted that Ajdukovic posed a difficult opponent on Centre Court. 

“I think it was a tough match," Nadal said in his on-court interview. "My opponent had one of the best backhands that I played against.

"He came here with a lot of confidence. I think I was trying to push him back.

"It was very, very difficult, honestly, but I found a way to survive and be through to that final after a long time without being in a final. So that’s great news and I’m very happy with that.”

Nadal continues his Olympic Games preparation later on Saturday, with a doubles semi-final clash against Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos, alongside partner Casper Ruud.

Rafael Nadal insisted he was forced into survival mode to reach a first tour-level final since 2022 following his win over Duje Ajdukovic in Bastad. 

Nadal continued his preparations for the Paris Olympics by coming from a set down to reach the final of the Swedish Open on Sunday. 

The Spaniard will either play Thiago Agustin Tirante or Nuno Borges before travelling to France to try and claim a third gold medal at the games. 

Nadal's last tour-level final came at Roland Garros two years ago, where this year's tennis will be taking place during the Paris Olympics. 

Nadal's semi-final test came just a day after a gruelling four-hour win over Mariano Navone, the second-longest three-set match of his career.

The Spaniard was able to complete the victory in just two hours and 12 minutes, but insisted that Ajdukovic posed a difficult opponent on Centre Court. 

“I think it was a tough match," Nadal said in his on-court interview. "My opponent had one of the best backhands that I played against.

"He came here with a lot of confidence. I think I was trying to push him back.

"It was very, very difficult, honestly, but I found a way to survive and be through to that final after a long time without being in a final. So that’s great news and I’m very happy with that.”

Nadal continues Olympic Games preparation later on Saturday, with a doubles semi-final clash against Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos, alongside partner Casper Ruud.

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