A dream that Carlos Alcaraz had since he was a child was to experience playing alongside Rafael Nadal, his hero, at the Olympic Games in Paris. He will never forget that event.
In the men’s singles competition at the Olympics, Alcaraz had a successful day on Thursday. Through his victory over Tommy Paul of the United States, who had previously presented challenges for the French Open winner in their previous encounters, he was able to advance to the medal stage.
Unfortunately, on Wednesday, Alcaraz and Nadal were ousted from the men’s doubles quarterfinals. They lost in straight sets to the Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. In actuality, the Spaniards were comfortably trounced.
That came as a big disappointment to the spectators at Roland-Garros, who had given the high-profile pair loud backing throughout their bouts. Many expected them to win the medal owing to the star qualities of their pairing.
However, Nadal is not the player he once was, and playing doubles can only partially mask that. Also, Alcaraz does not have much experience playing doubles, giving experienced doubles pairs an advantage.
After their defeat, Nadal claimed he and Nadal could have shared many great times together if he had been ten years younger. The 22-time Grand Slam champion is nearing the end of his career, meaning their doubles combo is as close as they can ever get.
Despite their exit, being near someone like Nadal is still a terrific experience and will aid Alcaraz going ahead. He highlighted how fantastic it was to play on the same side of the court as Nadal and pick up advice from him.
“Well that was an unbelievable experience for me. Something I’ll never forget, for sure, playing on the same side of the net as Rafa and learning from him. It has been excellent for me.”
“I appreciated it and I wanted to enjoy every single second that we played together. I think we’ve played amazing points, great rallies, wonderful matches. But I’m a little bit disappointed right now.”
Although Nadal is not at his physical and technical prime anymore, his comprehension of the game after so many years at the top of men’s tennis is unquestionably one of the best in the sport’s history. Alcaraz is sensible to try to learn from him.
The four-time Grand Slam champion did not merely earn vital expertise on the court. He also recounted the time spent conversing with his great colleague about life and that he would keep those chats to himself.
“I mean we had the chance to spend time together outside the court here in this event. We could spend more time and chat so much about life. That’s what I’m going keep for me. Yeah we’re going keep this friendship. I think it grew a lot. I learned a lot from him.”
It is reassuring that Alcaraz’s encounter with Nadal was nonetheless unforgettable despite their defeat in the quarterfinal. Fans were blessed to observe the couple in action together in front of enormous audiences.
Alcaraz is now entirely focused on trying to win a singles medal, while Nadal’s future in the sport is uncertain.