Rafael Nadal did his bit with a three-set win on Sunday to line up a show-stopping Olympic second round match with fellow Grand Slam dominator Novak Djokovic
The 38-year-old Nadal, whose fitness was under serious question this week as he cancelled a Paris training session at Roland Garros, came through 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 as he dispatched Hungarian Marton Fucsovics to move into the al–star clash with his longtime Serb rival.
The pair with 46 Grand Slam singles title between them are barely separated in their career count: Djokovic leads the series 30 wins to 29.
They last played in a French Open quarter-final two years ago, with Nadal winning three of their last four meetings.
““Of course it’s beautiful to play against one of the two biggest rivals that I had in my career, especially on this court,” Nadal said after getting past Fucsovics in two and a half hours.
“But situations are completely different for him, for me. He’s being very competitive.
“I was not being very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favourite.”
The 2008 Beijing gold medalist added: “I’m going to try my best to bring the best to the court and then let’s see how how far I can go and how many problems I can create (for) him.”
Nadal will be sitting in his clay comfort zone on the Grand Slam Chatrier court where he won a record 14 French Open trophies.
The Spaniard stands 112-4 at the clay major,
“It’s always beautiful to play on this court without a doubt,” Nadal said. “Representing your country is always super special.
“Every single day when sometimes the energy is not there, thinking that you are not playing just by yourself helps and in that case it has been important for me today.”
