PARIS (AP) — On the clay court where he won 14 French Open titles, Rafael Nadal likely bid adieu to Roland Garros on Day 3 of the Paris Olympics.
Nadal was feted Monday by a rowdy crowd as he met Novak Djokovic in the second round of the men’s tennis tournament for a record 60th — and probably final — time.
The Spaniard wouldn’t say if he plans to retire after the Olympics, but his 6-1, 6-4 loss to Djokovic showed just how diminished his game has become at age 38. The chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” began as soon as Nadal walked on the court and even helped him win four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all.
After the defeat, the two-time Olympic champion was weary of being asked about his future. He’s still playing at the Olympics, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles for Spain, and what comes next he does not know.
“I cannot live every single day with the feeling that it’s going to be, or not going to be, my last match. I come here, I try my best, I play. And when I decide to stop playing, or when I decide to keep going, I will let you know. I don’t know,” Nadal said. “If I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going or physically I am not … ready to keep going, I will stop, and I will let you know.”
Coco cruises
Coco Gauff is making it look easy at the Paris Olympics so far, adding a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in the second round of singles to her growing collection of lopsided results.
Gauff had more than twice as many unforced errors, 26, as winners, 11. She only put 55% of her first serves in play and wound up with six double-faults and zero aces. And even though it took nearly 1 1/2 hours for the reigning U.S. Open champion and No. 2-ranked Gauff to finish off an opponent who is ranked 85th, has never won a tour-level singles title and owns an 0-2 career record at Grand Slam tournaments, she was satisfied.
Super swim
Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh claimed her first gold medal with a dominating victory in the 400-meter individual medley. The 17-year-old McIntosh collected her first medal of any color on the opening night of swimming, taking a silver in the 400 freestyle behind Ariarne Titmus — and ahead of Katie Ledecky.
She pushed the pace hard through the first half of the grueling race — the butterfly and backstroke legs — to leave everyone in her wake except American Katie Grimes.
Grimes, who is also swimming the open water event in Paris, held on to claim the silver and the Americans also grabbed the bronze when Emma Weyant touched third.
Another teen rules
David Popovici made the teenagers 2 for 2 on the night when he pulled off a thrilling victory in the men’s 200 freestyle.
The 19-year-old Romanian was among three swimmers who swapped the lead back and forth on the final lap. Popovici mustered everything he had to get to the wall a mere two-hundredths of a second ahead of Britain’s Matthew Richards, with American Luke Hobson just 0.07 back to earn the bronze.
The top four were separated by a mere 0.15 seconds.
Australia wins again
Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus made it a 1-2 finish for Australia in the women’s 200-meter freestyle.
O’Callaghan’s victory denied Titmus her second consecutive gold of these Games. Titmus won the gold on Saturday in the 400-meter freestyle.
Men’s team all-around final
The Japanese men’s gymnastics team claimed Olympic gold with an epic comeback over its top rival.
With China looking poised to claim its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation to go, Japan surged ahead to win the men’s team competition after an intense and nail-biting duel.
The Japanese overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s...