Tennis took centre stage at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.
The first Olympics to take place in the French capital for 100 years gave the world a unique take on the usual manner of which the event is conducted.
The entire opening ceremony took place outside for the first time in Olympic history as the athletes from each country were introduced on boats cruising down the famous River Seine.
The rain hammered down as the event took place and soon it was time for tennis to make its mark as some of its icons made an appearance.
Tennis fans loved the appearances of Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony
There were plenty of sporting icons on show at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. Towards its conclusion, World Cup and European Championship winner Zinedine Zidane collected the Olympic torch and passed it to 14-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard was later seen with the torch on a boat cruising down the River Seine next to none other than his fellow tennis legend Serena Williams. They were joined by sprint superstar Carl Lewis and gymnastics icon Nadia Comăneci.
Nadal then passed the torch to two-time Grand Slam champion and former World number one Amélie Mauresmo who carried the torch on.
After witnessing Nadal and Williams share a special Olympic moment together, fans on social media platform X were delighted as user @MbappeKopite simply said: “Incredible.”
@LGKAKIIKI wrote: “That will be 45 grand slams!! Absolutely stunning two see two legends in one space,” while @EG10THEGOAT added: “45 GS and 6 #Olympics Gold Medals together in a pic! Tennis Royalty.”
The comments continued as @bojan1808 said: “Legends! Cudos to Paris Olympics honouring two of the greatest athletes!” and @ChilenC: “So much joy and proud tennis fans today.”
What are Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams’ Olympic records?
Nadal and Williams have both enjoyed success at the Olympic Games over the years.
The 38-year-old has competed in two previous Olympics and has succeeded at each of them. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, he claimed the gold medal by beating Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets.
After missing the 2012 Games due to injury, Nadal returned to the Olympics in Rio four years later. Though he missed out on a medal in the singles event, he became Olympic champion in the men’s doubles alongside Marc Lopez.
Williams on the other hand, won four Olympic gold medals throughout her illustrious career.
She claimed the doubles title alongside sister Venus at the 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games, before claiming singles and doubles gold at London 2012.
Williams claimed her lone singles gold without dropping a set and dispatched Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 in the gold medal match.
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