Rafael Nadal snags best seat in the house for Opening Ceremony of Paris Olympics

Let the Games begin!

The 2024 Paris Olympics officially opened on Friday with the presentation of the Opening Ceremony, and tennis, despite competition beginning in the early hours of Saturday, was well represented on the Seine River and the ensuing crescendo of the celebration.

Though he wasn't floating down the Seine for the official entrance of Spain's delegation, Rafael Nadal wasn't about to miss out on taking part in the party at his final Olympics. The 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, who is expected to play his opening doubles match with Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday before playing singles on Sunday, took in the festivities alongside his wife, Maria Francisca Perello, and his son, Rafael Jr., from a nearby balcony, and showed off his national pride by draping a Spanish flag from the railing.

But as night fell, there was a surprise in store as the more than four-hour ceremony ambled on to its conclusion.

Nadal, along with Serena Williams, Carl Lewis, gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci, and two-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo as featured carriers of the Olympic flame.

Predictably, the star-studded crossover event broke the Internet.

But earlier on the water, Maria Sakkari was the first player that many fans spotted, as she took her place among the Greek delegation that paraded down the river first as the historic birthplace of the Olympics.

But the ceremony only featured 50% of the Tsitsipas brothers who are playing at the Games. First-time Olympian Petros attended, but second-time Olympian Stefanos did not—resulting in an amusing joint Instagram Live session where the former asked the latter to explain where he was.

Other returning Olympians, like Andy Murray, weren't about to miss the unique kick-off, which was the first Opening Ceremony in Olympic history to not fully take place in a stadium.

The five-time Olympian, who declared earlier this week that Paris is the final tournament of his career, was grinning ear-to-ear as he waved the Union Jack high, and giggled with Jack Draper and the rest of Team GB.

A later-stage highlight of the Opening Ceremony for tennis was Coco Gauff's status as the female flag bearer for Team USA, as the Americans took center stage on the Seine shortly before 10 p.m. local time.

Among the viral moments for the nearly 600-athlete-strong U.S. contingent, eight of the 11 members of the U.S. tennis team (Danielle Collins, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram were missing) crammed into a photo with LeBron James, Gauff's co-flag bearer, while Gauff and WNBA star A'ja Wilson were snapped trading hugs as "I love you!"s before the ceremony began.

"Can't believe this is my life," wrote first-time Olympian Emma Navarro on her Instagram story.

Read more: Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz & co. unveil Team USA's moto-inspired Olympic fits

Gauff was joined by three other tennis players as flag bearers: Nicolas Jarry for Chile, Danka Kovinic for Montenegro, and Elina Svitolina for Ukraine.

Persistent rain in Paris couldn't even dampen everyone's spirits.

Rounding out the parade of nations was host France, which saw its tennis team well-accounted for before the ceremony concluded after roughly four hours in the Trocadéro district in front of the Eiffel Tower.

The first day of tennis competition at Roland Garros will also see Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Novak Djokovic, Jasmine Paolini and Daniil Medvedev play their first-round singles matches.