Paris Olympics tennis draw sets up potential Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic matchup

PARIS – A matchup featuring two of the best tennis players ever could materialize in the second round of the men’s singles tennis tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam winner, will face Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion in the second round at Roland-Garros Stadium if both win their opening-round matches.

The men’s and women’s tennis draws were announced Thursday. In the first round, Djokovic will play Australia’s Matthew Ebden, and Nadal will play Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.

Nadal loves the clay court surface and has won the French Open 14 times, and Djokvic has three French Open titles.

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"I am always happy to be back in this amazing city,” Nadal, who on gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, said after the draw. “Of course, Roland-Garros is, as everybody knows, this is the most special place in the world of tennis for me. I'm just excited to have the chance to be back here. It's another opportunity. This year I was not able to spend a lot of time at Roland-Garros (first-round loss), so I am enjoying the fact that I am back for the Olympics. The Olympics are completely different to any other event. I'm just trying to enjoy every single moment."

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who on the French Open in June, faces Lebanon’s Hady Habib in the first round.

Great Britain’s Andy Murray, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, withdrew from the singles competition.

“It's unfortunate that I trained all the last few weeks to try and get myself ready to play the singles and doubles, but I am getting a bit older, and it becomes a bit harder to recover from the injuries," Murray said. "I just ran out of time really. But I'm happy to be in the doubles with Dan (Evans). We play well together, so we can have a good run."

In the women’s draw, world No. 2 Coco Gauff, who is the USA’s women’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony Friday, meets Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland will play Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in first-round matches. Gauff and Swiatek would not meet until the medal round.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olympic tennis draw: When Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic may face off