Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will do battle once more when they meet at the Paris Olympics on Monday while Australia’s Ariarne Titmus is hotly tipped to win her second swimming gold of the Games.
Also on the third day of action, Britain’s Tom Daley will try to prevent an anticipated Chinese clean sweep in diving, while China and Japan will duel for gold in the men’s team final of the gymnastics.
Gold medals are also up for grabs in archery, canoeing, mountain biking, equestrian, fencing, judo, shooting and skateboarding.
The hottest ticket in town will be at Roland Garros, where Djokovic and Nadal will clash for a 60th time, with the Serb up 30-29 in their rivalry.
Nadal has had an undeniable edge on the clay in the French capital down the years, but after more injury concerns and with his career winding down, the 38-year-old Spaniard admitted Djokovic was “clear favourite” this time.
“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.”
– Titmus eyes more gold –
Another night of red-hot competition is in the offing in the pool, where the best swimmers on the planet will compete for five titles.
The last race of the night sees Titmus attempt to add the 200m freestyle crown to her dominant 400m triumph on Saturday, when she blew away rivals Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky to retain her title.
The 23-year-old Titmus is the favourite at 200m — she is the reigning champion and world record-holder.
Her biggest threat is fellow Australian Mollie O’Callaghan, who boasted the fastest time ever until Titmus smashed it in June.
Following her emphatic victory over 400m, when she led from start to finish, Titmus, who hails from Tasmania, said it was hard to take it all in.
“I’m just the same old goofy Tassie girl out here living out her dream,” she said.
“I hope it goes to show: anyone can do what they want to do if they work hard and believe in themselves.”
The other swimming finals on Monday are in women’s 400m individual medley, men’s 200m freestyle, men’s 100m backstroke and women’s 100m breaststroke.
