PARIS: Novak Djokovic said he hoped he would get more chances to play Rafael Nadal after beating his old rival in the second round of the Olympics on Monday.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion won 10 of the first 11 games and threatened to inflict the most lopsided defeat on Nadal in the 60th meeting between the pair, before eventually winning 6-1, 6-4.
Nadal said after the loss that he would decide on his future in the sport after the Olympics, where he is also playing in the doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.
But Djokovic, who played Nadal for the first time when they were still teenagers at the 2006 French Open, said he would like to keep the rivalry going.
"There's no other rivalry in the history of tennis that's had 60 matches between the two players. So I think that itself makes it very, very unique and very special," said Djokovic.
"I just hope for the sake of our rivalry and the sport in general that we'll get to face each other once or maybe a few times, on different surfaces, in different parts of the world, because I feel like it can only benefit the sport.
"I don't know how he feels in his body, what his plans are, but let's hope we can play some more."
Djokovic said only time would tell if Monday's match would turn out to be the last time he played Nadal.
"We don't know that. It really depends on many different factors," he said.
"I mean, it depends on whether both of us will keep going or whether we're going to participate in the same tournaments or not.
"I think we both want to play in the Grand Slams and the biggest tournaments. I don't know. We'll probably be very selective." -- AFP