Djokovic beat Nadal in the Olympics, ending his “last great hope,” says moya

Rafael Nadal’s coach, Carlos Moya, says that his loss to Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Paris Olympics made him decide to quit.

Nadal had been having health problems for two years before he announced his retirement. After winning the Australian and French Opens to start 2022, he hurt himself in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon against Taylor Fritz.

After that, the Spanish star was never the same. After that, he hurt his hip even more badly at the 2023 Australian Open, which kept him out for a year and kept him from protecting his French Open title.

In 2024, Nadal tried to make a comeback. He played well on clay courts and will feel bad that he was paired with Alexander Zverev in the first round of the French Open. Zverev went on to win the tournament in the end.

Even though Nadal played well enough to beat most players, he lost to Zverev in straight sets. Next, the 22-time Grand Slam winner played in the Bastad Open in July and made it to the final. He was trying to get good enough to play in the Olympics at Roland-Garros.

He played Novak Djokovic after beating Novak Djokovic in the first round of the men’s singles tournament at the Olympics. Fans hoped that the match would be as good as the many great ones that Nadal played in his amazing career.

That did not happen, which is a shame. Djokovic beat his old rival on the court, which was where he was most successful. After that, Nadal didn’t play for two more months. Last week, he announced that he was retiring.

For many years, Carlos Moya has been on Nadal’s team. He told Radioestadio Noche that the 38-year-old saw the Olympics as his last chance, which is why he chose to make it his last.

“The last point is the Olympics. He has a problem a few days before and plays Djokovic in the second round.” I believe that was his last big hope, which is why he chose to make it his last.

Moya says Nadal took a few weeks off to really think about whether it was time to stop from tennis, even though the Olympics seemed like Nadal’s last chance. Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam titles over the years.

“After the Olympics he takes a few weeks off and I think that’s when he realises that this is going to be his last year.”

Moya also thinks Nadal might have had a better chance at this year’s French Open if he hadn’t been hurt before the clay court season and if the first round draw hadn’t been so tough.

“After that comes the clay court season, which he got ready for with only a few hours of training and some damage to his body.” I believe that things would have changed for the better if he had a better draw at Roland-Garros (French Open). “That did not happen.”

If Nadal had a better draw at this year’s French Open, we will never know how far he could have gone. But the memories of his 14 wins at Roland-Garros will always be there.