PARIS: Rafael Nadal set up an Olympic Games blockbuster against Novak Djokovic on Sunday, shrugging off lingering injury concerns as fellow Grand Slam warrior Andy Murray prepared for what could be the final match of his career.
Nadal, who has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles on the clay at Roland Garros, defeated 83rd-ranked Marton Fucsovics 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round despite sporting strapping on his injured right thigh.
His meeting with 24-time major winner Djokovic will be the 60th of their storied careers.
"Of course it's beautiful to play against one of the two biggest rivals that I had in my career, especially on this court," Nadal said.
"But situations are completely different for him, for me. He's being very competitive. I was not being very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favourite."
On a sun-drenched Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal raced through the opening set with breaks in the second and sixth games.
However, the 32-year-old Fucsovics levelled the contest on a third set point in the second with Nadal briefly appearing to feel discomfort with his bandaged thigh.
Nadal, the 2008 Olympic singles gold medallist and doubles champion in Rio eight years later, was in trouble early in the decider.
But he stormed back with a key break in the fifth game of the decider on his way to victory after a testing two hours and 30 minutes on court.
Nadal had opened his final Olympics campaign on Saturday, partnering Carlos Alcaraz to victory in their first match together.
He then cast doubt on his singles commitments after picking up a thigh injury in training, insisting he would "make the smartest decision that I can to have the best chance of bringing a medal home."
Nadal and Djokovic have played 10 times at Roland Garros, first meeting in 2006, with Nadal leading the pair's head-to-head 8-2 in the French capital.
Later Sunday, former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner Andy Murray plays what could be the final match of his career.
The 37-year-old has already confirmed that the Paris Olympics will be his last tournament.
A two-time gold medallist in Olympic singles in 2012 and 2016, Murray is partnering Dan Evans in the doubles.
The overall quality of the Olympic tournament again raised questions.
Djokovic dropped just one game in his opening 53-minute win on Saturday against unranked Matthew Ebden who had not played a singles match for two years.
The Australian doubles specialist was called into the singles draw as an alternate following a series of last-minute withdrawals which included world number one Jannik Sinner.
"I don't think it's a good image for the sport," said Djokovic.
On Sunday, that image took another battering when three more players dropped out of the first-round draw.
Australia's sixth-ranked Alex de Minaur withdrew after failing to recover fully from a hip injury at Wimbledon, although he remains committed to doubles.
De Minaur was replaced by unranked Francisco Cabral of Portugal.
Britain's Cameron Norrie, a former top-10 player, scratched from his clash with world number 27 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
Norrie's place in the draw has gone to Petros Tsitsipas, the unranked Greek who is the younger brother of world number 12 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
In the women's singles, 47th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina pulled out, to be replaced by Australia's world number 164 Olivia Gadecki.
Among early winners Sunday were seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen, Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins, who all progressed by spending less than an hour on court each.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova won her first match at Roland Garros since lifting the French Open trophy in 2021.
The Czech defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain in three sets. - AFP