PARIS — At famed Roland Garros on Monday afternoon, Novak Djokovic was making surprisingly quick work of Rafael Nadal in straight sets before a packed center court in Phillipe-Chatrier.

Not far away on Court Suzanne Lenglen — the No. 2 show palace on the home ground of the French Open — Coco Gauff was taking even less time to dispatch of someone from Argentina.

She probably had a dinner reservation to catch. The City of Light is also the city of “so many people are in town for the Olympics, we only hold your table for 15 minutes no matter what your world ranking is.”

Next door to Suzanne Lenglen on Court 11 — one of the off-off-Broadway courts of Roland Garros — the play drew less attention but was no less intense in a first-round men’s doubles match. Sliding about on the reddish-brown clay was former LSU All-American Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain and Thomas Machac/Adam Pavlasek of Czechia.

The British took the first set 6-4, grinding for a service break in the ninth game when Salisbury dropped in a deft backhand winner. Machac and Pavlasek finally broke the Brits in the sixth game of the second set, giving them the momentum for a tying 6-3 set win.

That opened the door to a super tiebreaker in place of a traditional third set, with the winner being the first to 10 points while winning by two. It’s a fan favorite, but one that definitely brings a lot of chance and rapid swings of momentum into play.

Despite that, Skupski and Salisbury looked like they had a grip on a second-round berth. A winner by Salisbury put Great Britain up 8-7 and put two serves in Skupski’s hands. Two winners would give the British side the match.

Quickly, Machac and Pavlasek turned back the British. They broke both of Skupski’s service points, the second on a lob by Skupski that went wide. Machac then served for the winner and it was all over. Skupski and Salisbury, the No. 5-seeded duo, was eliminated 4-6, 6-3, (10-8).

After signing a few autographs and posing for a few selfies, the players slipped between the other side courts and made for what they call at the Olympics the mixed zone. It’s an area athletes come through after their competition to talk — or frequently not talk — with reporters.

To their credit, Skupski and Salisbury talked. But the stunningly quick nature of their exit was written on Skupski’s face. Salisbury struggled to find words.

“It’s very disappointing,” Skupski said. “That one got away from us. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t convert when we had a chance.”

“That’s how it goes,” Salisbury said. “It’s exciting for fans to watch the match tiebreaks. It comes down to one or two shots.”

One or two shots. That’s all it takes for an Olympic dream to be dashed. Seeded as they were, it was fair of Skupski and Salisbury to dream of leaving Roland Garros with medals draped around their necks.

Certainly it was no dream Monday afternoon to think they would be playing again in a couple of days’ time.

“Throughout the match, I thought we played some great stuff,” Skupski said. “I thought we had it under control a lot of the time. But the second set we had break points in the first game and we didn’t convert. Those boys got a little better in the second set, and we got maybe a little more tentative.”

Salisbury still has mixed doubles to look forward to. For Skupski, his Olympic career may have come — and gone — with those haunting couple of shots.

Skupski competed in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but made it to only the second round with Jamie Murray, who is playing at this Olympics with his brother, British tennis legend Andy Murray.

Skupski is 34 now, 35 come December. Unlike the last gap between the Games, it will be four years until the Los Angeles Olympics. Skupski’s career clock is ticking louder and louder.

It’s been a respectable career for Skupski. You don’t have to have Djokovic or Nadal-like success to claim that. Skupski has three Grand Slam doubles titles on his ledger, including Wimbledon in 2023, with 16 other ATP doubles titles to his credit. The career earnings of the former Tiger from Liverpool now reportedly total about $3.7 million.

This year has been a year of some frustration for him. He split with Dutch player Wesley Koolhof, who won Wimbledon with him at the end of last year. This season, Skupski has reached the mixed doubles finals at the French and Australian opens with American Desirae Krawczyk, but the big title has eluded him.

The pro tour beckons. Skupski has tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati before the U.S. Open starts next month. He said he will play the rest of the season with fellow former LSU standout Michael Venus of New Zealand (Venus did not make the Olympics).

They may have something special coming this season yet. But no matter what, the one that got away from Skupski in Paris will take some time to get over.