The Serbian Novak Djokovicwho comfortably won the second round match of the individual Olympic tournament against Rafael Nadalin another chapter of the greatest rivalry in the history of tennis, congratulated himself for the victory and for calming the reaction of the Spaniard, who he regretted for not facing the match at his best.
“I think we will appreciate this match a lot, for the sport itself, for our rivalry. It raised a lot of interest and attention from the rest of the sports towards us. It is a shame that Nadal was not at his best. I I did everything I could to make him uncomfortable,” Djokovic said.
Many years of conflict. They have accumulated sixty games between them. “In 2006, when it all started, I don’t think we thought we would be playing on the same court at these Olympic Games,” he said.
Novak Djokovic continued his quest for an elusive first gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Monday when he defeated long-time rival Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4.
The twenty-fourth Grand Slam winner was horrified by the reaction from Nadal when he won 4-0 and the Spaniard woke up and was at 4-4 and about to take the lead. Djokovic admitted he was relaxed.
“At 6-1 and 4-0 I felt very comfortable,” said Djokovic. “At 4-1 I played a bit of a sloppy serve and you can’t give Nadal a chance because he will take advantage of them and come back. Especially in this court. The public got involved, but it was an important game with 4-4,” explained Balkan.
“It was a very close match, but I’m very pleased with the way I played,” said Djokovic, feeling relieved as he closed out the victory.
“I feel very relieved. At first everything was going the way I wanted, but you can’t give Nadal a single chance because things can change. It was hard, but in the end I was fine. But Rafa was close,” he said.
“Rafa always deserves great respect. Before this match I felt great energy and I am proud to be in this special moment. It didn’t feel like the second round, it felt like a final,” concluded Djokovic.
Source: La Verdad
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