VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France >> A’ja Wilson scored 24 points and Breanna Stewart added 22 to help the U.S. beat Japan 102-76 on Monday night in the Olympic opener for both teams.

The Americans now have a 56-game Olympic winning streak that dates to the 1992 Barcelona Games.

The last of those victories before Monday also came against Japan when the two teams played for the gold medal in the Tokyo Games three years ago. The U.S. came away with a 90-75 win for its seventh straight gold medal.

Now Monday’s victory tipped off the run to keep that streak going.

Japan, which was severely undersized against the U.S., used its frenetic style of shooting 3s off drives to the basket to try and keep the game close.

It worked for about 17 minutes as Japan only trailed 37-32 with 3:01 left before the half. The U.S. then scored 13 of the final 19 points before break, including a three-point play by Wilson with 8.2 seconds left to open up a double-digit lead.

Water polo

U.S. women lose to Spain >> The U.S. women’s water polo team was handed a rare loss at the Olympics, falling 13-11 to Bea Ortiz and Spain in a rematch of the final at the Tokyo Games.

The U.S. is going for its fourth consecutive gold medal. No team — men or women — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics. It was the program’s second loss at the Olympics since it dropped the 2008 final. It went 5-0-1 in London, 6-0 in Rio de Janeiro and 6-1 in Tokyo.

After its 10-9 loss to Hungary in group play in 2021, the U.S. ripped off four straight wins by a combined score of 63-26. That included a dominant 14-5 victory over Spain in the final.

Rugby

US women beat Britain to set up semifinal against defending champ >> Ilona Maher created a try and almost scored another as the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team reached the Olympic semifinals for the first time with a 17-7 win over Britain.

Now for the tougher part: a semifinal against defending champion New Zealand.

The New Zealanders trounced China 55-5 in the quarterfinals and appear to be peaking at the right time.

Tennis

Nadal loses his likely final singles match >> On the clay court where he won 14 French Open titles, Rafael Nadal likely bid adieu to Roland Garros on Day 3 of the Paris Olympics.

Nadal was feted by a rowdy crowd as he met Novak Djokovic in the second round of the men’s tennis tournament for a record 60th — and probably final — time.

The Spaniard wouldn’t say if he plans to retire after the Olympics, but his 6-1, 6-4 loss to Djokovic showed just how diminished his game has become at age 38. The chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” began as soon as Nadal walked on the court and even helped him win four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all.

GAUFF WINs in SECOND ROUND >> Coco Gauff is making it look easy so far, adding a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in the second round of singles to her growing collection of lopsided results.

Gauff is 3-0 across singles and women’s doubles, where her partner is Jessica Pegula, but she has dropped a combined total of only nine games across six sets in those three matches.

Swimming

CANADA’S McIntosh wins women’s 400 IM >> Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh claimed her first gold medal with a dominating victory in the 400-meter individual medley. The 17-year-old McIntosh collected her first medal of any color on the opening night of swimming, taking a silver in the 400 freestyle behind Ariarne Titmus — and ahead of Katie Ledecky.

She pushed the pace hard through the first half of the grueling race — the butterfly and backstroke legs — to leave everyone in her wake except American Katie Grimes.

Grimes, who is also swimming the open water event in Paris, held on to claim the silver and the Americans also grabbed the bronze when Emma Weyant touched third.

Men’s gymnastics

JAPAN WIN GOLD, AMERICANs TAKE BRONZE >> The Japanese men’s gymnastics team claimed Olympic gold with an epic comeback over its top rival.

With China looking poised to claim its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation to go, Japan surged ahead to win the men’s team competition after an intense and nail-biting duel.

The Japanese overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar. Japan won with a small margin of 0.532 points.

The Americans, meanwhile, earned bronze for their first medal since 2008.

After qualifying in fifth place, the U.S. men ended a 16-year drought to the delight of the dozens of fans waving American flags who chanted “USA! USA!” throughout the evening.

The Americans posted a total of 257.793 points to edge Britain for the bronze.

Other events >> China passed the one-time powerhouse United States for the top spot in gold medals in diving when Lian Junjie and Yang Hao breezed to victory in synchronized 10-meter platform. It was the 49th gold medal in China’s history. ... Canada appealed being docked six points by FIFA in a drone-spying scandal at the women’s soccer tournament, and a verdict is expected hours before the team plays its last group-stage game Wednesday. ... Concerns about the water quality in the Seine River led officials to call off the swimming portion of an Olympic triathlon training session for a second straight day.