Live updates from Monday at the Olympics: Djokovic beats Nadal and Daley makes history
The first Monday of the 2024 Paris Olympics will see plenty of medals awarded and familiar names competing.
Roland Garros will feature some of the biggest names in tennis, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic meeting for the 60th time — a record for head-to-head matches between two men in the sport’s Open era, which began in 1968. Additionally, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will compete in the second round of singles Monday.
Meanwhile, swimmers ranging from Australia’s Ariarne Titmus to Team USA’s Ryan Murphy will continue to make a splash as five medal events will take place at La Defense Arena.
Led by two-time WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, the U.S. women’s basketball team opens its pursuit of a record eighth straight gold medal against Japan. The U.S. women are on a 55-game Olympic winning streak and haven’t lost since 1992.
Keep an eye on these athletes and events Monday:
Top events to watch
11:30 a.m. ET: Artistic gymnastics (men’s team final)
2:30 p.m. ET: Swimming, 400m IM (women’s final); 200m freestyle (men’s/women’s final); 100m breaststroke (women’s final); 100m backstroke (men’s final)
3:30 p.m. ET: Women’s basketball, USA vs. Japan
A full list of the Monday schedule can be found here.
Chase Budinger and Miles Evans start Olympic journey on a high note
After eight seasons in the NBA, Chase Budinger’s transition from the hardwood to the sand is going pretty smoothly. Team USA’s men’s beach volleyball duo of Miles Evans and Budinger earned their first win in Paris over France 2-0 (21-14, 21-11). — READ MORE on Budinger’s move from the NBA to beach volleyball.
Miles Evans and Chase Budinger grab their first win of the #ParisOlympics. 😤
📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/qa7vF6DhVZ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
Nyjah Huston doesn’t plan to play it safe in street skateboarding final
PARIS — American skateboarders Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston qualified first and second into Monday evening’s eight-man street skateboarding final at La Concorde. Both men return from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where Eaton became the first American skateboarder to earn an Olympic medal, taking bronze in street. Huston, one of the most famous and successful street skateboarders in the world, struggled in Tokyo, didn’t land a trick in the final and finished seventh.
The contest format changed for the Paris Games, with each skater given two attempts to put together a 45-second run (lowest score is dropped) and five tries to land a single trick, with two scores counting.
“I like this format more, but it does put even more pressure on you to land a run,” Huston said after prelims. “But it’s a good thing. That run is half the contest and it’s how you show your flow around the course and your style as a skateboarder. It’s a brutal format, though.”
Huston said that while he focused on tricks he’s been landing consistently in practice during the prelims, his strategy wasn’t to put down a “safe” run or land a couple lower-difficulty tricks to make the final and then start ramping up difficulty. He wanted to make the final doing what’s made him one of the best.
“I don’t like to play it safe in my runs,” Huston said. “I don’t like to play it safe ever. “
He plans to bring the same mentality into the final. — Alyssa Roenigk
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal embrace after potential final showdown
In front of a capacity crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier and with Serbian and Spanish flags visible throughout, Novak Djokovic won his 60th — and perhaps final — meeting with Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4, in the second round of Olympic singles play Monday in Paris.
At the end of the match, which gave Djokovic a 31-29 series edge, the longtime rivals embraced at the net and appeared to exchange some friendly words. Nadal received an ovation from the crowd as he walked off the court.
The match — played in the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun — had been billed as one of the biggest of the Olympics, featuring two of the sport’s most legendary players. And both had a lot to play for.
Djokovic, 37, has 24 major titles to his name — tied for the most all time in tennis history — but Olympic gold has remained elusive and he has made no secret about it as a goal in recent years. His 2024 season has not gone to plan or lived up to his expectations thus far but, coming off knee surgery in June and a loss in the Wimbledon final earlier this month, he hoped Paris would help him turn things around.
Nadal, 38, is a 22-time major champion, including a record-breaking 14 at Roland Garros, and a gold medalist in singles and doubles but, after being sidelined with injuries for the better part of the last two years, has said this would likely be his final season on tour. He had skipped Wimbledon and the grass-court season to focus on clay and prepare for the Olympics on his preferred surface and at his favorite venue. Nadal acknowledged facing Djokovic would be a challenge after his first-round win on Sunday.
“[We’re in] different situations in our careers,” Nadal said. “He’s coming from being in the final of a Grand Slam, and I’m coming without being very competitive in the last two years. Let’s see, it’s in a special place. I’m just going to try to give my best and enjoy it as much as possible.”
However, despite their head-to-head history and classic rivalry — which began at Roland Garros in 2006 when they played against one another for the first time — an in-form Djokovic took control early and withstood Nadal’s resurgence in the second set. He will next play Dominik Koepfer or Matteo Arnaldi in the third round.
Nadal isn’t quite done at Roland Garros just yet. He and Carlos Alcaraz won their opening-round doubles match Saturday and next play Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Tallon Griekspoor on Tuesday.
Elsewhere on the grounds Monday, three-time major champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Angelique Kerber staved off retirement for at least one more match with a three-set win over Jaqueline Cristian to advance to the third round. The 36-year-old German had previously announced this would be her final tournament. Coco Gauff also advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Maria Lourdes Carle. — D’Arcy Maine
End-to-end action in field hockey
THAT WAS CRAZY. 🏑
Team USA field hockey robs Spain of a goal at one end, then goes down the other way and scores to take the lead. #ParisOlympics
📺 USA Network & Peacock pic.twitter.com/neOXpBOqyL
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
The U.S. women’s field hockey squad scored just once in its 1-1 draw with Spain on Monday, but the team’s lone goal was a beauty. Ashley Hoffman first made a save on one end, getting her stick to the ground in time to stop a point-blank Spain shot heading toward the back of the net. Then, in a matter of seconds, Team USA charged the length of the field to set up a goal by Phia Gladieux.
Team USA’s draw gives the squad its first points of the tournament, with the U.S. currently sitting fourth in Pool B. The U.S. will have three more group stage matches as it searches for a quarterfinal berth.
Nigeria stuns Australia in Paris debut
Nigeria women’s basketball pulled off one of the first major upsets of the Games with a 75-62 win over Australia, notching their second Olympic victory and first since 2004 when they beat South Korea. Led by Ezinne Kalu’s 19 points, Nigeria went on an 11-0 run to go into intermission, giving them a 13-point lead, but the game came down to turnovers. Australia allowed 26 points from Nigeria after turning over the ball an equal amount of times.
Tom Daley makes history in British Olympic diving
Tom Daley and Noah Williams delivered a silver medal in the men’s 10-meter synchronized diving with a score of 463.44 for Great Britain, falling just short of China’s Junjie Lian and Hao Yang for a gold medal. Daley secured his fifth Olympic medal and fourth successful Games appearance (including a gold medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics), making him the most decorated British diver in Olympic history. He did it all with his No. 1 fan — his son — in attendance.
An unforgettable father-son moment. 🫶 #ParisOlympics
📺 E! and Peacock pic.twitter.com/JF4Awnvbdd
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
“He’s six years old [Robbie] now and I think he might remember some of this, but he has been most excited about the fact that there’s a little bit of Eiffel Tower in the medal,” Daley said. “So he’s very excited to get to touch a little bit of the Eiffel Tower.” — Connor O’Halloran
USA men’s gymnastics returns to action
Team USA hasn’t won a team medal in men’s gymnastics since the 2008 Olympics, with this year’s squad looking to snap that drought in the men’s team final at 11:30 a.m. ET. Team USA finished fifth in the qualification round, but hope remains that the team can rally around the likes of Stephen Nedoroscik (who tied for the top score in individual pommel horse qualification) and Fred Richard (who led all Americans with a 10th-place finish in the individual all-around qualifier). — READ MORE on Fred Richard from Andscape.
World-record chase comes down to the wire
Katharine Berkoff finishes less than ONE SECOND away from the world record in the 100m backstroke prelim. 🤯🇺🇸 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/jOiU91wfAe
— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) July 29, 2024
Katharine Berkoff powered her way to first place in her 100-meter backstroke preliminary heat, with perhaps the most thrilling element of the competition being her photo finish against the standing world record (as well as Olympic record) in the race. Berkoff, the only competitor in the preliminary races to turn in a time under 58 seconds, came within a second of breaking the world record.
Medals awarded Monday:
Shooting Women’s 10m Air Pistol: Gold: Ban Hyo-jin, South Korea, Silver: Huang Yuting, China Bronze: Audrey Gogniat Switzerland
Shooting Men’s 10m Air Rifle: Gold: Sheng Lihao, China Silver: Victor Lindgren, Sweden Bronze: Miran Maricic, Croatia
