Tennis was one of the big winners at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony as the sport featured prominently during the lighting of the Olympic cauldron with three former world No 1s involved.
For the first time ever, an Olympic opening ceremony was held outside a stadium as most of the events took place across the Seine River with thousands of fans lining the banks to get a glimpse of the athletes.
Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo took centre stage late in the day as they were part of the relay team that carried the torch to the cauldron, which resembled a hot air balloon.
Before the ceremony got underway, 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal was already one of the winners as he managed to enjoy some time with his family in Paris and his 21-month-old son, Rafael Jr, was having just as much fun as his father as they were spotted on the balcony at one of the hotels.
Tennis great Nadal has made no secret of the fact that he wants to give his son as many memories as possible, saying earlier in 2024: “I would love to play a little bit longer and give him a memory of myself playing tennis.
“That’s what will be the ideal thing for me and for my wife and family.”
One day Rafa Jr can say that he saw his father in action at the Olympics!
Rafael Nadal and his son ahead of Paris Games – Tennis Channel Instagram
Tennis has a long history of players being flagbearers at the Olympics as the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova have all had the moments in the spotlight.
Paris 2024 was no different with five players afforded the honour of carrying their country’s flag.
Nicolas Jarry was the man of the moment for Chile, Danka Kovinic carried Montenegro’s flag, Elina Svitolina was on duty for the Ukraine while Coco Gauff became the United States’ youngest flagbearer as the 20-year-old shared the duties with basketball star LeBron James.
Unlike at previous Games where athletes walked into the Olympic Stadium, they were paraded by boat in wet and windy conditions on the Seine.
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There were always going to be some high-profile moments on the boats as tennis players mingled with other sporting superstars.
But the award for best social media post goes to rising American star Emma Navarro as she referenced LeBron James’ Instagram story from 2018.
Six years ago James posted a story with the caption “Smiling through it all! Can’t believe this is my life” as he hit back at criticism.
And Navarro copied that “Smiling through it all! Can’t believe this is my life” caption for a photo of herself alongside James on the boat.
Emma Navarro’s LeBron James quote
Most Olympic host nations prefer to stick to its own citizens when it comes to those involved in the carrying of the torch, but Paris 2024 was different.
After French football legend Zinedine Zidane kicked off the journey, they brought in the tennis big guns as Zidane handed the flame to 14-time French Open champion Nadal.
No one saw that one coming as the Spaniard – dressed in his red blazer and cream pants – marched along the route to the next destination: a boat on the Seine.
With the wind and rain causing havoc there was a brief moment where Nadal’s face suggested he was worried about that the flame could die, but he kept it burning.
Rafael Nadal struggles with the wind during the Paris Games opening ceremony
Cue another couple of surprises as Nadal was joined by fellow tennis great and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams as well as nine-time athletics gold medallist Carl Lewis and five-time gynmastics gold medallist Nadia Comaneci.
The four were having a good time on that boat, but there were a few seconds where Williams looked like she struggled with motion sickness and needed help to remain on board.
The four GOATS on a boat got to their destination and there was one more tennis surprise as they handed the cauldron to another former tennis world No 1 in Mauresmo.
