Paris: Novak Djokovic overcame a gritty Rafael Nadal comeback on Monday in probably the last chapter of their epic tennis rivalry at the Paris Olympics, where British diver Tom Daley grabbed his fifth medal in five Games.
In the pool, Canada’s Summer McIntosh launched her bid for 400m medley gold in the morning session, with Australian Ariarne Titmus hotly tipped to win her second swimming gold later in the day.
With fans basking under glorious blue Paris skies, a happy contrast to the soggy opening ceremony only three days ago, golds are up for grabs in 11 sports.
As forecasters issued a heat warning for Paris and surrounding areas, the hottest ticket in town was at Roland Garros, where Djokovic and Nadal clashed for a 60th time.
Coming into the match, Djokovic held a razor-thin 30-29 edge in their rivalry but the Spaniard had always ruled the roost on the clay in the French capital down the years.
Age and injuries have caught up with the Spanish great however and he had warned before the match he would struggle to be competitive with Djovokic.
That proved painfully prescient in the first set as the ruthless Serb dispatched the former king of clay 6-1.
But Nadal rolled back the years in the second set, roared on by a packed Roland Garros crowd, fighting back from 4-0 down to 4-4 with two breaks of serve.
Djovokic found an extra gear at the end to claim a 6-1, 6-4 victory, the two tennis legends embracing at the net and Nadal waving to the Roland Garros faithful.
‘Goofy Tassie girl’
Another electric night of swimming action is expected, with Titmus bidding to add the 200m freestyle crown to her dominant 400m triumph on Saturday, when she blew away rivals McIntosh and Katie Ledecky to retain her title.
The 23-year-old Titmus is favourite at 200m — she is reigning champion and world record-holder.
Her biggest threat is fellow Australian Mollie O’Callaghan, who boasted the fastest time ever until Titmus smashed it in June.
Monday’s other swimming finals are women’s 400m individual medley, men’s 200m freestyle, men’s 100m backstroke and women’s 100m breaststroke.
‘It’s very sad’
In diving, Daley took an emotional silver medal with partner Noah Williams in the men’s synchronised 10m platform behind China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao.
Williams choked back tears as he recalled his former coach Dave Jenkins, who died in 2021 after the last Olympics in Tokyo.
Daley, whose father Rob died of cancer in 2011, told the BBC: “I’ve never seen Noah cry in my whole life, I know how much today mean to him.
“It’s very sad Dave is not here, but I know Dave and my dad would both be so proud to see us here today.”
Daley made his Olympic debut as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Beijing Games and won his first Olympic medal with a bronze at the 2012 London Games.
He took another bronze in Rio, then another at the Tokyo Olympics before finally winning gold in the men’s synchronised 10m platform event at those Games.
China scooped the first diving gold in Paris with victory ahead of the United States and Britain in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard.
Seine events scrapped
Another fascinating battle pits China and Japan against each other for gold in the men’s team final of the gymnastics.
Gold medals are also up for grabs in archery, canoeing, mountain biking, equestrian, fencing, judo, shooting and skateboarding.
Yuto Horigome defends his men’s skateboarding street title after the event was postponed on Saturday because of rain.
Japan could snatch all three medals, with the 2023 world champion Sora Shirai and 14-year-old Ginwoo Onodera also strongly fancied.
In women’s basketball, the United States launch their bid for an eighth consecutive gold medal when they open their campaign against Japan, with veteran Diana Taurasi aiming to snare a sixth gold in her farewell international tournament.
Meanwhile, Olympic organisers cancelled a second day of triathlon training in the River Seine planned Monday after weekend downpours polluted the waterway.
