What is Rafael Nadal's retirement situation after Paris Olympics loss to Novak Djokovic? All you need to know

Rafael Nadal of Spain lost in straight sets to arch-rival Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday, July 29. The Spaniard fought well in the second set, but Djokovic was decidedly the better player in the match.

With Nadal struggling against quality opponents on his beloved clay, questions are being raised with regard to his probable retirement. However, the 38-year-old has yet to make any formal announcement in that regard.

Nadal struggled to stay in long rallies against Djokovic:

Djokovic ruled with his powerful backhand against Nadal on Monday. The Serb's down-the-line backhand won him a lot of points on the day. However, what was also disappointing for Nadal's supporters was the Spaniard's inability to stay in the longer rallies.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion often hit his shots wide after a rally had stretched beyond a certain limit. It was a glaring weakness for the greatest clay-court player of all time, which made Djokovic's job easier.

Nadal has still not revealed much about his retirement

Nadal has still not said anything concrete about his retirement. He has acknowledged the fact that he has become slower with his movement on the court, which is there for everyone to see and quite natural at his age.

In an interview after his Paris Olympic 2R loss, Nadal said that he would decide about his future after the Olympics. He also admitted that he did not have "the legs of 20 years ago."

The Spaniard also said,

"I can't be analyzing every day whether or not it can be my last match. It seems that you want to retire me every day, give me a little more time."

In such a scenario, it will be interesting to see whether he decides to play at the US Open this year, which gets underway in August. Nadal has won the US Open title four times already in his career but should find it difficult to make a deep run into the tournament this time around.

The two-time Wimbledon champion, however, is still quite competitive against quality opponents and that might spur him to go on for some more time. Ideally, he should want to play for another year or so before announcing his retirement.

The fact that Djokovic, his rival for years, is still going strong might motivate Nadal to keep giving his best for some more time. The Serb is still among the best players in the world and might even think of adding to his record grand slam tally of 24. It remains to be seen whether the Spaniard tries to keep up with his arch-rival for another year or so.