PARIS: Novak Djokovic dominated rival Rafael Nadal at the start, then held off a comeback attempt to win 6-1, 6-4 at the Paris Olympics in the second round Monday, the 60th — and likely last — head-to-head matchup between the two tennis greats.
Djokovic claimed 10 of the initial 11 games, with Nadal nowhere near the skilled and ever-hustling version of himself that won a record 14 French Open trophies on the same red clay at Roland Garros that is hosting Summer Games matches. Instead, Nadal was diminished, showing every bit of his 38 years, and looking like someone who might be ready to head into retirement after playing only sparingly the past two seasons because of a series of injuries, including hip surgery.
Then, suddenly, the indefatigable Nadal got going, making a push to turn this contest competitive, which surely no one — least of all Djokovic — found too surprising. Nadal captured four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all. He raised his left fist, drawing roars from a packed Court Philippe Chatrier crowd that repeatedly tried to encourage him with chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!”
And that’s when Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, regained control. He broke right back, pointing to his left ear while walking to the sideline as if to taunt Nadal’s supporters. Djokovic then served out the victory, before meeting Nadal at the net for a hug.
Djokovic owns 24 Grand Slam titles, and Nadal 22, the two highest men’s totals in the century-plus history of the sport, both have been ranked No. 1, and no pair of men has played each other more often in the professional era. They are two-thirds of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis, along with Roger Federer, who retired with 20 Slam titles. That trio enjoyed unprecedented success and prompted endless debates about which was the “GOAT” — “Greatest of All Time.”
But Djokovic and Nadal are accustomed to meeting — and fans are accustomed to watching them — in the latter stages of events, including nine major finals. Not merely the second round. It happened that early this time because while Djokovic is the top seed at the Summer Games, Nadal’s ranking is outside the top 150 on account of a lack of matches.
Part of Nadal’s troubles Monday were caused by not being in tip-top shape. His right thigh has been taped up during these Olympics, where he is also competing in doubles for Spain with Carlos Alcaraz.
And part of the problem, to be sure, was that Djokovic was, well, the best version of himself other than during that brief stretch in the second set, sliding along the baseline to get to everything, striking shots exactly where he wanted them, occasionally using drop shots to set up winners and force Nadal to run a lot. Djokovic wore a gray sleeve on his right knee, just as he did while making it to the final at Wimbledon three weeks ago. He tore his meniscus during the French Open in early June and had surgery in Paris.
None of that mattered on this warm afternoon under a cloudless sky, with the temperature in the 80s Fahrenheit. Folks in the stands waved fans in an attempt to stay cool; both players wore cold white towels around their necks during changeovers.
Djokovic beats rival Nadal at Paris Olympics in 60th and likely last head-to-head matchup
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Djokovic beats rival Nadal at Paris Olympics in 60th and likely last head-to-head matchup
- Djokovic owns 24 Grand Slam titles, and Nadal 22, the two highest men’s totals in the century-plus history of the sport
WWE Royal Rumble coming to Saudi Arabia in 2026
- The event in Riyadh next January will be the first time it has taken place outside North America
- It is being organized in partnership with Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority as part of Riyadh Season
The 39th Royal Rumble will be hosted by the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in January 2026, organizers announced on Monday. It will be staged in partnership with the Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority, as part of the annual cultural and sports program known as Riyadh Season.
Turki Alalshikh, the authority’s chairperson, said: “Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the Royal Rumble for the first time outside North America reflects the General Entertainment Authority’s ongoing commitment to bringing the world’s largest and most important entertainment events to the Kingdom.
“Through this partnership with WWE, we aim to enhance the entertainment sector and deliver a transformative experience that attracts a wide audience.”
The announcement came during the debut episode of Monday Night RAW on Netflix, broadcast from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Royal Rumble is an annual WWE Premium Live Event that includes both men’s and women’s bouts, with fighters battling to eliminate all their opponents and secure a shot at the championship at WrestleMania.
Nick Khan, WWE’s president, said: “WWE is a global enterprise and it only made sense to expand our relationship with the Kingdom by bringing one of our biggest annual events to Riyadh in January of 2026.”
Leao, Pulisic and Abraham inspire AC Milan comeback in 3-2 win over Inter in Italian Super Cup final
Leao, Pulisic and Abraham inspire AC Milan comeback in 3-2 win over Inter in Italian Super Cup final
- It was the fifth time in the last seven years that the competition was played in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH: It took exactly one week on the job for Sergio Conceicao to earn his first trophy as AC Milan’s coach — with two comeback wins no less.
Milan came back from two goals down to beat city rivals Inter Milan 3-2 and win the Italian Super Cup on Monday.
Rafael Leao came off the bench and played a part in all three of Milan’s goals from Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham.
Conceicao was hired to replace the fired Paulo Fonseca last Monday and also led the Rossoneri to a comeback win over Juventus in the semifinals.
This time, Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi put Inter ahead with goals on either side of halftime.
Leao then earned a foul that resulted in a free kick which Hernandez curled in around Inter’s wall.
Then Pulisic finished off a counterattack by shooting through Augusto’s legs on a play that began with Leao.
For the third goal, Leao provided a through ball for Pulisic, who crossed to Abraham, who tapped into an empty net in stoppage time.
It was the fifth time in the last seven years that the competition was played in Saudi Arabia, and the second year of an expanded four-team format.
A throw-in led to Inter’s opener as Taremi fed the ball inside the area to Lautaro, who cut back before shooting through Hernandez’s legs on Inter’s only real chance of the half.
Taremi, who was playing in place of the injured Marcus Thuram, finished off a counterattack right after the break.
Milan play their first Serie A match under Conceicao against Cagliari on Saturday. The Rossoneri are in eighth place but will return to league action with much more confidence.
Al-Rajhi, Sanders win 48-hour stages at Dakar Rally
- For this long stage, which started on Sunday, the competitors had to bivouac in the desert
BISHA, Saudi Arabia: Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi held on to his overnight lead to win the second stage of the Dakar 2025 rally on Monday, the fearsome “48-hour Chrono” while defending champion Carlos Sainz limped in 1h 30min behind.
The 43-year-old racing in his home country completed the 967km special stage, spread over two days, in 10h 56min 54sec, despite a 2min penalty for speeding.
He was followed by South African Henk Lategan at 4min 16sec with Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, who overtook Al-Rahji briefly to hold the lead for 142k, finishing third.
“It was really, really hard. I feel like this is our tenth day on the Dakar,” said Al Rajhi on his arrival at the bivouac of the rally, which began on Friday.
“The navigation was very, very difficult in some places, due to the divots and dust. You needed a rocket, not a car to pass through them. It wasn’t easy.”
For this long stage, which started on Sunday, the competitors had to bivouac in the desert and did not benefit from the assistance of their teams at the night stop.
Sainz seriously damaged his Ford Raptor when he rolled it on Sunday but managed to finish the stage although the Spaniard is now 26th in the standings.
Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who is still looking for his first Dakar victory, was half an hour behind at the camp on Sunday evening, after a fan problem caused his engine to overheat.
But the Frenchman had a better Monday, making up much of the deficit to finish seventh, 13min 10sec behind the leader.
South African Lategan tops the provisional standings, 4min 45sec ahead of Al Rajhi with Al Attiyah in third. Loeb is sixth, 18min 56sec off the lead.
“We looked after the car for the stage because we knew it was really, really long,” said Lategan.
“If you don’t look after the car, it won’t look after you. It’s actually a big surprise to be first because we haven’t been really focusing on it. But I’m happy with that.”
Australian Daniel Sanders continues to dominate on the bikes, his victory in their “48-hour Chrono” making it three in a row after he also won the prologue and first stage.
It is the first time any rider has taken the first three stages since Spaniard Joan Barreda in 2017 between Bolivia and Argentina.
“It wasn’t too bad, pretty hard in the soft dunes, it was very tough for a lot of us,” said Sanders.
“When opening, you didn’t know if it was going to be a soft dune or a hard dune. It was pretty tough. The dust kind of ruined it a lot. Everyone was bunched up fighting in the dust for the opening bonuses. It was a bit tough on that side.”
Sanders took victory on his KTM in a time of 11hr 12min 13sec, 6min 45sec ahead of Frenchman Adrien van Beveren (Honda) with American Skyler Howes (Honda) in third.
Sanders, who is aiming to become the second Australian to win the Dakar on a bike after Toby Price, holds a 12min 36sec lead over Howes in the provisional overall standings.
Botswana’s Ross Branch (Hero) lies third, 4sec behind the American.
Tammy Abraham says it would mean everything to win first trophy for AC Milan in Saudi Arabia
- AC Milan play city rivals Inter in Riyadh on Monday night in Italian Super Cup final
- Abraham says victory would be ‘amazing’
RIYADH: Tammy Abraham said it “would mean everything” to win his first trophy for AC Milan.
The former Chelsea striker, on loan at the San Siro from Roma, played a key role in AC Milan qualifying for the Italian Super Cup final against city rivals Inter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday night.
England striker Abraham came off the bench for the final half-hour against Juventus in Thursday’s semifinal with AC Milan 1-0 down. But his forward play helped the Rossoneri overturn the deficit to win 2-1, with the equalizer netted by fellow former Chelsea player Christian Pulisic.
Having won trophies at both Stamford Bridge and Roma — who loaned him out to AC Milan at the start of the season — the 27-year-old, 11-times capped England striker dearly wants to add to his medal collection in Riyadh.
“It would mean everything to me to win my first trophy in a Milan shirt. I’m a player who always wants to win. I’ve won a few trophies in the past, and I want to keep building the cabinet. It would be amazing to lift my first trophy for Milan,” Abraham said.
“I’m a player that always wants to win. I want to help my team as much as possible. Against Juventus in the second half, I had to bring my energy and bring some belief to my team. I’m proud of my team but the job is not finished, and we have a really big job in the final.
“We played Inter earlier in the season and we won. We are ready and we have to be ready. They had a day extra to recover and prepare, but that’s no excuse for us. We want to go back home with the trophy.”
Inter beat Atalanta 2-0 on Thursday with a double from Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries to qualify for the final. All matches are taking place at Al-Awwal Park — the home of Cristiano Ronaldo and his Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr. Inter are going for three Super Cups in a row in Riyadh and a record four wins in succession.
The Italian Super Cup is being staged in Saudi Arabia — where some 80 percent of the population either play, attend, or follow football — for the fifth time.
Sri Lankan Embassy holds cricket tournament to mark ties with Saudi Arabia
- Competition marks 50 years of diplomatic ties
- Plans to bring big names from Sri Lankan cricket to promote annual event
RIYADH: The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh recently held a cricket tournament to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Asia nation and Saudi Arabia.
The embassy organized the event in collaboration with the Sri Lankan Cultural Forum in Riyadh. Last year marked the half century of ties between the two nations.
The tournament was an 11-a-side competition with a maximum of five overs per innings, held from Dec. 3 to 27. The final resulted in the Riyadh Lankans beating the Gulf Lions.
A total of 25 teams drawn from the Sri Lankan community in Riyadh participated.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad told Arab News on Monday that the plan is to make it an annual event.
“We are planning to bring some big names from Sri Lankan cricket in the final of the tournament in the future, in order to promote cricket among the Sri Lankan community in Saudi Arabia as well as promote cricket ties with the Kingdom.”
He added that since Saudi Arabia also has a cricket federation, the plan is to “explore opportunities” for cooperation in the game.
Ajwad said the Riyadh Lankans, who clinched the trophy, had showcased exceptional talent and teamwork.
The envoy expressed delight that Saudi Arabia was becoming a global sports hub and would be hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, 2029 Asian Winter Games and 2034 Asian Games.
