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PARIS — Novak Djokovic beat the punishing heat and Germany’s Dominik Koepfer on Wednesday to set up a mouthwatering Olympic quarter-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas as he hunts an elusive gold medal.

The Serbian top seed, who crushed Rafael Nadal in the previous round, came through 7-5, 6-3 in sweltering conditions in the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“I’m soaking wet, honestly,” he said moments after his win. “It’s a very, very humid day as it was yesterday. I just hope it rains so it cools down the temperature a bit and the air.

“But it is what it is. You have to kind of accept and embrace the conditions and it’s the same for you and your opponents so you have to try to make the best out of it.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion broke Koepfer early but the German world number 70 returned the favour in the next game to get back on serve.

Djokovic, a three-time French Open champion on the clay courts at Roland Garros, took the first set 7-5 when Koepfer went long to concede another break.

As the sun beat down on Court Philippe Chatrier, Djokovic found his groove, surging into a 3-0 lead to take a grip on the second set, sealing the win with a minimum of fuss.

Thursday’s quarter-final against Greece’s Tsitsipas will be a repeat of the 2021 French Open final, which Djokovic won in five gruelling sets.

Tsitsipas, the world number 11, eased past Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-1 in his third-round tie.

Djokovic is yet to drop a set in three rounds of tennis in Paris.

The 37-year-old, searching for his first trophy in 2024, is still wearing strapping on his right knee after undergoing an operation in June.

He was a bronze medallist on his Olympic debut in 2008 but is targeting gold in Paris to complete his staggering collection of trophies.

The World No. 2 said representing Serbia at the Olympic Games was the “greatest honour”.

“Of course, bringing a medal to Serbia has always been a big goal of mine since my first Olympic Games in Beijing, where I managed to get my only medal so far,” he said.

Djokovic said he expected a “big fight and a tight match” against Tsitipas.

“Big serve, big forehand, I know his game very well,” he said. “He’s been one of the most consistent guys out there on the tour in the last five to 10 years.”

Tsitsipas, who is 2-11 in head to heads against Djokovic, said it was important for tennis players to have the memory of a “goldfish” to forget defeats.

“I just need to get out and try and be better than the rest of the times that I’ve played him,” said the 25-year-old.

“We’ve had a lot of matches against each other and it’s been the toughest lessons I’ve had on a tennis court.”

PARIS — Tearful Coco Gauff crashed out of the Paris Olympics at the hands of Donna Vekic on Tuesday after a heated row with the umpire as Rafael Nadal prepared to return to the baking courts.

With temperatures rocketing into the mid-30s Celsius at Roland Garros, officials activated a heat protocol, allowing a 10-minute break between the second and third sets.

In the first match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Vekic shocked Gauff 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals, but the match was overshadowed by a lengthy row between the US Open champion and the chair umpire.

Gauff, the flag-bearer for the United States at the Olympic opening ceremony alongside NBA star LeBron James, made a fast start but squandered three set points before her Croatian opponent won the first-set tie-break.

The pair swapped breaks early in the second set, but the match came to a standstill at the end of the sixth game as an emotional Gauff pleaded her case with the umpire.

At 30-40, Vekic hit a return deep to Gauff’s forehand, which the American mishit into the net.

Vekic’s shot was called out but the call was overruled by the chair umpire and the point was awarded to the Croat, giving her the break. Gauff argued her shot was compromised by the initial call.

“I have to advocate for myself all the time,” a weeping Gauff, 20, said on court. “I’m getting cheated in this game. You guys are not fair to me.”

Later, a more composed Gauff called for a video review system at Roland Garros to match those in place at other Grand Slam venues.

“I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point but, for sure, being not a break, whereas maybe replaying that point can make a big difference in that game,” she said.

Vekic, ranked 21, briefly lost her composure, slipping to 0-40 on her own serve before recovering to hold, and she broke again to seal victory.

The Wimbledon semifinalist said the row over the line call was a “tricky situation”.

“After that, the crowd, it was not so easy,” she said. “I lost my concentration for a couple of points, but I’m happy that I managed to come back in that game because it was an important game.”

Germany’s defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev coasted into the third round with a 6-3, 7-5 win over 39th-ranked Czech Tomas Machac.

In the women’s draw, three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber of Germany progressed to the quarter-finals along with US eighth seed Danielle Collins and China’s Zheng Qinwen.

Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek targets a 24th straight win on the clay courts of Paris against China’s Wang Xiyu in the evening session.

‘Nadalacaraz’ 

Nadal, a 14-time French Open champion, was swept off court by old rival Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the pair’s 60th meeting on Monday.

The 38-year-old, immortalised in a statue at Roland Garros, has been plagued by injuries in recent years and is now 161st in the world.

Nadal said after his painful defeat to Djokovic that he would make a decision on his future after the Olympics.

But the Spaniard, who won singles gold at the 2008 Beijing Games and doubles gold in Rio in 2016, can still collect a medal in the doubles alongside current French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic crushed Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 in their blockbuster Olympics clash on Monday as the two titans met for the 60th and possibly final time.

The showdown between the two most successful men’s tennis players in history appeared to be fizzling out before a late fightback from Nadal enabled him to avoid his heaviest-ever defeat by Djokovic.

“I’m very relieved,” said Djokovic. “Everything was going my way, I was 6-1, 4-0 up but I played a sloppy service game and gave him chances.”

It was 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic’s 31st win in a rivalry that began on the same Roland Garros clay courts in 2006.

“You could feel the tension coming into the match, but also incredible hype, incredible atmosphere on the court,” said Djokovic.

“I never thought back in 2006 that we’d still be playing each other almost 20 years later.”

Nadal admitted Djokovic was the “clear favourite” ahead of their first clash in more than two years, with the Spaniard a shadow of the player who reigned for the best part of two decades at Roland Garros.

While 14 of Nadal’s 22 Grand Slams have come in Paris, the 38-year-old has been plagued by injuries in recent years and he has slumped to 161st in the world.

His participation in the singles in Paris had been in doubt until the last minute.

Djokovic has not had a good season by his high standards but the 37-year-old Serbian rose to the occasion in his pursuit of an elusive Olympic gold.

The top seed raced into a 5-0 lead before Nadal finally got on the board but Djokovic closed out the set and surged 4-0 ahead in the second before Nadal offered some belated resistance.

Nadal clawed his way back to 4-4 only for Djokovic to break once more, this time making no mistake as he put away his old foe and perhaps brought down the curtain on one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport.

“When this tournament is over, I will take the necessary decisions based on my feelings and desire,” Nadal said regarding his future in tennis.

Djokovic, a bronze medallist on his Olympic debut in 2008, goes on to face Dominik Koepfer of Germany for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Nadal will turn his focus to the doubles where he is in a dream-team pairing with compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, the reigning men’s French Open and Wimbledon champion, takes on Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor later Monday in the singles.

Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek stepped up her quest for gold by powering into the third round.

The four-time French Open champion underlined her status at the heavy favourite in Paris, swatting home hope Diane Parry aside 6-1, 6-1 and will meet China’s Wang Xiyu for a place in the quarter-finals.

The Pole has won her past 23 matches at Roland Garros, with three clay titles already under her belt this season.

Swiatek, tested in her opening match under the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier, enjoyed a far more straightforward outing in bright sunshine on Monday.

“I think it was a pretty solid performance, better than the first round, so I’m happy that I could play a little bit more of my game and, of course, the conditions were also nice,” she said.

US second seed Coco Gauff dispatched Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle 6-1, 6-1.

Next up for her is Wimbledon semi-finalist Donna Vekic, who put out former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, this year’s French Open runner-up to Swiatek, eased into the third round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Magda Linette.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova coasted past China’s Wang Xinyu while Maria Sakkari of Greece also advanced.

Zheng Qinwen, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud were among other second-round winners.

Scorching heat posed a considerable problem for players at the Tokyo Olympics, and the issue could resurface this week with highs of 35 degrees Celsius  expected on Tuesday.

PARIS — Simone Biles made a stunning return to Olympic competition on Sunday, powering through left calf pain to get her multiple-medal bid off to a rousing start.

The US superstar, aiming to add to the four gold medals she won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, tweaked her left calf warming up for her second apparatus, the floor exercise.

It didn’t stop her from soaring through her signature Yurchenko double pike vault — now known as the Biles II — which even with a big step back on landing earned a 9.4 for execution for a massive total of 15.800 points.

She had another step back landing her second vault, but laughed as she crawled back towards her teammates on her hands and knees.

That was all it took for Biles’s coach Cecile Landi to know that for Biles “It’s on. It’s OK.”

Landi, who said Biles aggravated a minor injury she’d first dealt with a couple of weeks ago, said there was never any doubt Biles would continue.

“Never in her mind,” Landi said, adding that she was also confident that Biles would be ready to go for the team final on Tuesday and the individual events to follow.

With three of the five qualifying sessions complete, the United States topped the team standings on 172.296 ahead of Italy and China, with all three assured places in the final.

Japan, led by a sparkling performance from 16-year-old Kishi Rina, were lying fourth ahead of Britain, Romania and The Netherlands with team medal contenders Brazil and France yet to compete.

Biles topped the all-around standings with 59.566 points.

“Pretty amazing, 59.5” was Landi’s assessment of Biles’s performance in front of a star-studded crowd at Bercy Arena, where celebrity fans included Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain and Greta Gerwig, pop star Ariana Grande and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Chants of “U-S-A” rang out even before gymnasts made their entrance for the second session of qualifying, and the roar when Biles was introduced was deafening.

She crushed every element in her opening balance beam routine, roaring through her aerial skills and spins without a wobble.

It was then she appeared to hurt herself warming up for the floor exercise, but after having her left leg taped from calf to foot Biles delivered a dynamic floor routine that featured both her Biles I double layout with half a twist and her Biles II “triple-double” of two back flips with three twists.

“It’s incredible,” US team technical lead Chellsie Memmel said. “What she was able to do looking like she has soreness or something in her leg is remarkable.”

Landi said Biles was already feeling better by the time she closed out her day by sticking the landing on her uneven bars routine — receiving another huge ovation and beaming as she shared a dance with teammate Jordan Chiles.

Teammate Suni Lee, who has battled two career-threatening kidney ailments since winning all-around gold in Tokyo, was second in the all-around standings, meaning the all-around final is set to feature the last two gold medallists for the first time in Olympic history.

Algerian uneven bars specialist Kaylia Nemour topped that apparatus and was also headed to the all-around final.

But the spotlight was on Biles, who led the vault and floor exercise standings and was second in balance beam behind China’s Zhou Yaqin.

She was still clinging to the eighth and last finals berth in uneven bars with two qualifying sessions to come.

Biles withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Games as she battled the disorientating mental block that gymnasts call “twisties”.

She still went home with a silver and bronze and was lauded for speaking openly about mental health struggles.

After two years away, Biles returned to win four world titles last year, taking her tally to an astonishing 23.

At 27 she could become the oldest women’s all-around Olympic champion in 72 years and just the third woman to capture more than one Olympic all-around title.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic said his 6-0, 6-1 rout of unranked Matthew Ebden in just 53 minutes at the Olympics on Saturday was “not a good image” for tennis and demanded a change in the rules governing late call-ups.

Djokovic hardly broke sweat against the 36-year-old Australian, who was drafted into the draw at the last minute following the injury withdrawal of Holger Rune.

Ebden, a doubles specialist, hadn’t played a singles match for two years until he was given a shock call to play.

World No.1 Jannik Sinner also pulled out, with tonsillitis, to be replaced by 275th-ranked Hady Habib. He was promptly defeated in straight sets by Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday.

“I really don’t understand the rules,” said World No.2 Djokovic after his stroll under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.

“It’s not logical for me that you have someone withdraws from singles and you call up a doubles player to play singles.

“I don’t think it’s a good image for the sport, to be honest. There are lots of singles players that had plenty of time to get here and could have been called to come.

“So this part I don’t get at all. I hope the ITF [International Tennis Federation] and the Olympics change the rule because it was tough on Matt. He hasn’t played singles in two years.”

Under ITF rules, any singles withdrawals are replaced by the highest-ranked singles player in the doubles draw.

Once there are no players with singles rankings, replacements are highest-ranked doubles players.

The withdrawal of Andy Murray from singles opened a slot for Dutchman Robin Haase, whose single ranking now stands at 1,196.

Djokovic needed just 24 minutes to wrap up the first set against Ebden and was 4-0 up in the second before his opponent won a game.

The Australian, playing to a sympathetic crowd, celebrated by pulling his shirt over his head.

But that was as good as it got for the Australian Open doubles champion, who was broken six times in all and hit just seven winners to the 24 of Djokovic.

Alcaraz needed just 70 minutes to see off Texas-born Habib 6-3, 6-1 over on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

“The rules are difficult,” said Alcaraz. “There are a lot of players who deserve to be here and get the chance to play in the Olympics.

“I think it should be different because the next singles player deserves to be here, but the rules are the rules.”

Ebden said Saturday’s defeat was his last singles match.

“I had never played Novak but some miracle happened and I got the chance to play him on Chatrier. It was the perfect way to retire my singles officially,” he said.

“The only goal I had was not to get injured. I was never going to win. I got one game at least and I said to Novak I was sorry I couldn’t give him more of a hit.”

Ebden even threw in an underarm serve in an attempt to put Djokovic off his stride.

“I thought I may as well try something. I’m not going to win the point any other way.

“I could tell my son that in my last ever singles match I served underarm to Novak Djokovic.”

AMMAN — The 2024 Olympic Games officially opened in Paris, France on Friday with over 10,000 athletes from 200 nations taking part, marking the 12th time for Jordan at the Olympics.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will run up to August 11 with Paris as the main host city, and events held at 16 other cities spread across France. It will be the second time in history that the opening of the Olympic Games will be held outside a stadium, with the parade of nations planned as a boat parade along the River Seine with the route featuring the cultural elements and views of Paris landmarks

The Games will feature 329 events in 32 sports, with four optional sports that were proposed by the Paris Organising Committee: Breakdancing will make its Olympic debut, while skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will return from 2020.

As with many athletes who settle for symbolic participation at the Games, Jordan’s contingent includes a combination of athletes qualifying through competitions, while non-qualifying athletes take part based on the “quota” or wild card system which aims at making sure countries from all corners of the globe are present.

The Kingdom will compete in 6 sports with a total of 9 qualifying athletes out of the 12 member team: A record 4 qualifiers in Taekwondo (Olympian silver medalist Saleh Sharabati, Juliana Al Sadeq, Rama Abul Rub, Zaid Mustafa), 3 in boxing (Hussein and Ziyad Ishaish, Obada Al Kasbeh), gymnast Ahmad Abu Saoud, table tennis player Zaid Abu Yamen, as well as three wild card participants swimmer Amr Wirr and Karen Bilbeisi, and marathon runner Muath Khawaldeh.

Since first participating at the 1980 Olympics, Jordan earned a spot on the medals table of the world’s biggest sporting competition only at the past two Olympic Games.

The 2016 Rio Games went down in Jordanian sporting history when then 20-year old Ahmad Abu Ghaush, the youngest competitor in taekwondo’s 68 kilogramme weight class also became the first taekwondo athlete in the Arab world to win gold and Jordan’s first ever Olympic medal. He was 2012 World Junior Champion, 2012 Asian Junior Champion and 2016 Asian Olympic qualifying gold medalist.

Following Rio, the Tokyo 2020 Games, which was postponed by the COVID19 Pandemic to 2021, saw Jordan win a silver and bronze medal with a record 10 of the 14 Jordanian athletes qualifying through competition. Saleh Sharabati became a new national hero winning a silver in taekwondo following in the footsteps of teammate Abu Ghaush. A second medal was secured by Abdul Rahman Masatfeh who clinched a bronze as Karate made its Olympic debut.

Earlier, there were three bronze medals at the 1988 Seoul Games by Samer Kamal and Ihsan Abu Sheikha, and at the 1992 Barcelona Games by Ammar Fahed. However, taekwondo was still considered an “exhibition sport” at the time.

Until 2000, table tennis was the only game whose athletes qualified through competition, through players Jacqueline Duqum (Seoul 1988), Nadia Rashad (Barcelona 1992) and Tatiana Najjar (Sydney 2000). Taekwondo and boxing followed soon after. In 2004, Zeina Sha’ban (table tennis), Ibrahim Bisharat (equestrian) , Nadine Dawani and Ibrahim Aqil (taekwondo) qualified to the Athens Olympics.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dawani, Bisharat and Sha’ban again qualified. In 2012, Jordan had Mohammad Abu Libbeh, Dawani and Raya Hatahet qualifying (taekwondo), Bisharat (equestrian) and Ihab Al Matbouli (boxing). In 2016, it was Abu Ghaush (taekwondo) and Hussein Ishaish (boxing). In 2020, the 10 qualifiers included veteran Bisharat, competing at his fourth Olympics; five boxers (Ziyad and Hussein Ishaish, Ali Hindawi, Mohammad Wadi and Obada Al Kasbeh); Saleh Sharabati and Juliana Sadeq (taekwondo), Younes Salman (judo); Abdul Rahman Masatfeh (karate).

On the Olympic scene, Jordan’s national anthem was played for the first time when the late Maha Barghouti won a gold medal in wheelchair table tennis at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. At the 2020 Paralympic Games, Jordan added four more golds: 3 by Omar Karadeh, Abdul Karim Khattab and Jamil Shibli (power lifting), and Ahmad Hindi (athletics).

Since 1984, Jordan has won a total of 17 medals at the Paralympics (5 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze).

PARIS — Cristian Medina scored the equaliser in the 16th added minute as Argentina came from two down to draw 2-2 with Morocco in a hostile atmosphere on the opening day of men’s Olympic football on Wednesday, while Spain edged Uzbekistan 2-1.

Argentina is looking to win men’s football gold for the third time after success in 2004 and 2008, but Javier Mascherano’s side came within seconds of defeat in Saint-Etienne.

They were booed as they emerged onto the pitch and during the national anthems by the crowd, the majority of whom were supporting Morocco.

That welcome came after Argentina players were filmed singing racist chants following their victory in the recent Copa America.

Argentina trailed 2-0 in the Group B game to a Soufiane Rahimi brace but pulled one back through Giuliano Simeone before Medina finished off a crazy move right at the death.

Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who is one of the biggest names featuring in the tournament, set up Rahimi for the opener at the end of a fine move in first-half stoppage time.

The reigning African Under-23 champions doubled their lead six minutes into the second half from the penalty spot, UAE-based forward Rahimi stroking in the spot-kick after Ilias Akhomach was brought down.

Argentina coach Mascherano, who starred in the teams that won gold in Athens and Beijing, had at one point hoped to persuade Lionel Messi to feature among the three permitted overage players in his squad otherwise limited to those under 23.

Messi opted not to come to the Paris Games, and the biggest names in their side here were Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez and captain Nicolas Otamendi, the Benfica defender.

Simeone, son of former Argentina star Diego, came off the bench to pull one back midway through the second half, and Medina saved a point in the 106th minute.

Otamendi’s shot was turned onto the bar by the goalkeeper and Bruno Amione headed the follow-up off the woodwork, but Medina was on hand to make it third time lucky and secure a draw.

As Argentina celebrated, projectiles including bottles and plastic cups rained down from the stands, and several spectators entered the pitch, with the referee promptly blowing for full-time.

Group B rivals Iraq and Ukraine meet later in Lyon.

Gomez makes amends 

Silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, Spain was made to work hard to beat Uzbekistan in their Group C opener at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was among the spectators watching a Spain side featuring two members of their Euro 2024-winning squad in Alex Baena and Fermin Lopez.

Spain went ahead just before the half-hour mark when Sergio Gomez’s free-kick was helped on by Abel Ruiz to the back post where Marc Pubill turned the ball in.

Uzbekistan had chances and drew level from the penalty spot in first-half added time.

Pau Cubarsi was penalised for a foul in the box following a VAR review and Uzbekistan captain Eldor Shomurodov, the Roma forward, converted the penalty.

Cubarsi, the 17-year-old Barcelona prodigy, had been booked early on and did not reappear for the second half.

Spain got a penalty of their own for a foul on Aimar Oroz, but Gomez’s kick was saved by goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov.

However, Gomez made up for that by grabbing what proved to be the winner just after the hour.

Juan Miranda cut the ball back for Gomez — who has just joined Real Sociedad from Manchester City — to fire in.

Also in Group C are Egypt and the Dominican Republic.

The pick of Wednesday’s later games sees hosts France faces the United States in Marseille in Group A, with Thierry Henry’s team hoping to win a medal despite failing in their attempts to enrol the services of Kylian Mbappe.

PARIS — Former World No.1 and three-time Grand Slam title winner Andy Murray confirmed on Tuesday that he will retire after the Paris Olympics, closing another chapter in tennis’s golden age.

“Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics. Competing for Great Britain have been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get do it one final time,” the 37-year-old wrote on social media.

Now ranked at 121, and playing with a metal hip since 2019, time has caught up with Murray, who suffered ankle damage this year and underwent surgery to remove a cyst from his spine which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon.

Instead, he played doubles with brother Jamie and was defeated in the first round.

“I want to play forever, I love the sport and it’s given me so much. It’s taught me loads of lessons over the years I can use for the rest of my life. I don’t want to stop so it is hard,” admitted Murray at the All England Club.

“It’s hard because I would love to keep playing but I can’t. Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.”

Murray famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon when he triumphed in 2013, defeating career-long rival Novak Djokovic in the final.

He added a second title in 2016, taking his career majors total to three after breaking his duck at the 2012 US Open.

Murray won gold at the 2012 Olympics on an emotional day at the All England Club where he defeated Roger Federer just weeks after he had lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss on the same Centre Court.

Four years later, he defeated Juan Martin del Potro to become the first player, male or female, to win two Olympic singles golds.

Murray also led Britain to the Davis Cup in 2015, the country’s first in 79 years.

‘Big Three’ 

He has won 46 titles in all and banked more than $65 million in prize money alone.

The British star’s success in the sport came in an era dominated by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

The so-called “Big Three” hoovered up 66 Grand Slam titles between them but time is catching up with the icons of the sport.

Federer won 20 majors before he retired in 2022.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, is 38 years old and has played just six tournaments all year as he battles injury.

The Spaniard’s most recent Slam triumph was his 14th French Open more than two years ago.

Meanwhile, 37-year-old Djokovic, the holder of 24 majors, has been deposed as Australian Open and Roland Garros champion in 2024.

Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian, succeeded him as champion in Melbourne and took his world number one ranking.

Carlos Alcaraz, still only 21, won the French Open and successfully defended his Wimbledon title, sweeping Djokovic off court in a one-sided final earlier this month.

If Djokovic loses his US Open title in September, it will be the first time since 2002 that at least one of the three giants had failed to win a Slam title.

Djokovic and Murray have been rivals since they were 12 years old and clashed 36 times as professionals. That included seven Grand Slam finals.

“I do wish him all the best in his farewell,” said Djokovic at Wimbledon.

The Serb, however, believed that the Scot would keep going in the sport.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to come back again. He’s an incredible competitor — resilience that you can definitely study and teach young athletes.”

PARIS — Sebastian Coe has been portrayed by some as a potential successor to Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but the athletics legend suggested to AFP it is out of his hands.

Bach, who like Coe is an Olympic gold medallist, will oversee the Paris Olympics that start on Friday but is due to step down next year having served the maximum two terms since being elected in 2013.

There have though been calls from some IOC members that Bach should seek a third term, although that would require a change in the Olympic Charter.

The two-term limit was one of the anti-corruption reforms imposed following the Salt Lake City scandal in the 1990s.

Coe, who at 67 is three years younger than Bach, has been credited with transforming the image of the sport since being elected World Athletics president in 2015.

“Look, I think there’s a huge deal of uncertainty about what is happening in Lausanne [the site of the IOC headquarters] at the moment,” Coe told AFP in an interview this month when asked about whether he would run to be IOC president.

“I think those questions are probably best directed at other people.”

The Briton, whose third and final term as athletics chief ends in 2027, had his work cut out when he took over WA.

His predecessor Lamine Diack was embroiled in a cover-up of Russian doping cases in exchange for bribes and was sentenced by a French court to four years in prison, of which two were suspended, and fined 500,000 euros ($544,000).

‘Better governed’ 

Coe, who was a Conservative Party lawmaker from 1992-97, said his close friend William Hague, Britain’s former foreign minister, told him that in comparison to other jobs the head of Monaco-based World Athletics would be “a calmer, quieter atmosphere”.

“I did remind him not long ago over supper that that quieter period ended up with me sitting in a Monaco police station for five hours, where my predecessors had gone and subsequently been arrested,” Coe said.

He insisted that he did not go for the World Athletics top job because he was sure he would get it.

“I’ve never done things because I think there’s any certainty of outcome,” he said.

“I’ve tended to do things that I’ve found interesting or the need to do them.”

Coe, who won the 1500m Olympic title twice in 1980 and 1984, has earned credit for taking a hardline stance in banning Russian and Belarusian athletes in response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Equally he attracted flak from some fellow federation presidents for taking the revolutionary step of saying Olympic track and field gold medallists will receive $50,000 prize money.

However, Coe says while such decisions are partly informed by his “moral compass”, they are not taken unilaterally.

“They are not individual long runs for hope,” he said. “You know, I have a Council.

“One thing about our sport it is properly governed. It’s probably better governed than any sport out there.