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Ominous Signs: Here’s Why Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz as Dream Pair Might Not Survive Long at Paris Olmypics

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Rafael Nadal Carlos Alcaraz

The stage is set for a mega showdown in Paris! The entire tennis community is on the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting to witness the Spanish No. 1, Carlos Alcaraz, teaming up with the ‘King of Clay,’ Rafael Nadal.

This dream partnership is about to hit the courts, and fans can’t wait to see the magic they create together. But as the dynamic duo gears up, the challenge ahead is immense. Their first match on Saturday pits them against the formidable doubles specialists, Máximo González and Andrés Molteni. Can Alcaraz and Nadal’s combined prowess and chemistry overcome the seasoned Argentine duo?

Both Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez have proved their mettle on the tennis courts, especially in the doubles segment. Gonzalez boasts 17 ATP Tour Doubles titles and has partnered with 9 different players over the course of his career. He has bagged at least 8 titles in the last 9-years, except in 2017. With a career-high doubles ranking of 10, ‘Machi’ has admitted that his favorite surface is clay and his favorite venue is Roland Garros just like his compatriot Molteni.

Legend speaks: Rafael Nadal talks about partnering with Carlos Alcaraz at Paris Olympics 2024 - The Week

READ: Rafael Nadal Puts His Faith in Carlos Alcaraz as He Wishes to End Career on a High at Paris Olympics

With the Summer Olympics taking place on the clay courts of Roland Garros, Nadal and Alcaraz cannot witness an easy match. And to add to their struggles, Gonzalez has paired up with his remarkable compatriot, Andres Molteni, who has portrayed similar achievements and considers clay his favorite.

Molteni picked up racquets when he was just 5. In the doubles segment, he has won 16 ATP titles and has been rising up the ranks. With a career-high ranking of 7, the Argentine star has captured at least one title for 7 of the last 8 years (except 2020). But despite partnering with six different players, most of his achievements have come when he has played alongside Gonzalez.

The pair has won 5 titles in the last season itself, partnering together. They emerged victorious in Barcelona, Cordoba, Cincinnati, Rio, and Washington. These victories have established the two as one of the most successful doubles partners and have the capability to create significant challenges for Nadal and Alcaraz. And both have had a sensational season so far.

Known for his forehand and volley, Molteni advanced to the quarterfinals of both, the Australian Open as well as Wimbledon. Besides, Gonzalez reached the semi-finals in the mixed doubles category in the French Open and Wimbledon. And their on-court prowess can surely create trouble for Raflitos in their first match at the clay courts. This dominance, meanwhile, has also led Nadal to worry about the match, especially due to some inexperience.

While Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz have demonstrated why they are the best players in tennis history, the match is indeed going to be difficult. And the ‘King of Clay’ has his concerns in place for the match.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Rafael Nadal revealed the challenges that he and Alcaraz might face in the match. “We need to play doubles well individually. We’ve played very little doubles: Carlos hasn’t played for a long time and I played for two days last week, in Bastad. We have to make the doubles movements automatic, they’re completely different to those of a singles match,” the two-time Olympic medallist said. He also added that their opponents are far more prepared than they are.

“We have to know where to return, select the right shot in each situation… With each game, we’ve felt better and better, more comfortable all-round. We’ll make mistakes from time to time. I doubt our opponents will: they know their roles, and we’ll have to face that from the start. We’re very excited and very focused on giving ourselves the best chance.”

As the match unfolds, it would be interesting to see if the duo can actually overcome the Argentine challenge. While only time will tell the result, what remains certain is an exhilarating showdown.

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Rafael Nadal Puts His Faith in Carlos Alcaraz as He Wishes to End Career on a High at Paris Olympics

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Paris Olympics Rafael Nadal Carlos Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal is gearing up to hit the ground running at the Paris Olympics, competing in both the singles and doubles categories.

The Spanish player, who is well-known for his unwavering skill and unwavering dedication, hopes to add an Olympic gold medal while getting closer to retirement. Even though Rafa expressed some doubts about his own play, he has complete faith in Carlos Alcaraz, his doubles partner, to guide their team to victory in Paris.

The 38-year-old tennis legend already has two gold medals from the Olympics after winning the men’s singles title at the 2008 Beijing Games. He teamed up with Marc Lopez eight years later to win the doubles title in Rio. With this remarkable accomplishment, Rafael Nadal becomes the only tennis player in Olympic history to win gold in both the singles and doubles competitions.

Tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz to compete together at Paris 2024

READ: Nadal ‘not comfortable’ ahead of Olympics bid

Talking about his Olympic participation, he said, “I know that if I play well in singles, I will also play well in doubles, but I will have to work hard.” Notwithstanding the passing of a long time, Nadal is ready to win the round once more, having sent a confident message about his partner in a recent interview.  

While talking about his doubles partner, he said, “And I’m convinced that Carlos will be at a great level, knowing that he arrives with confidence.” The world No. 3 will be competing for the first time in the Olympics in Paris.

Subsequently, he told Tennis Channel that he was hoping to win both singles and doubles competitions when his collaboration with Rafael Nadal was announced earlier this year, calling their alliance a “dream.” On the other hand, he expressed his excitement, saying, “And obviously, the doubles with Rafa is going to be a really dream moment for me. Obviously, we will try to bring home the gold medal again.”

The four-time Grand Slam winner disclosed that he and Nadal would wait to talk strategy until they got to France. The 21-year-old acknowledged that, despite being an up-and-coming talent in the sport, he would yield to his more seasoned partner and let Nadal lead.

The 2024 Wimbledon winner said a few days ago that while he isn’t anxious about the Olympics just now, he expects to feel pressure once he gets to Paris. He conveyed his excitement to absorb knowledge from the 22-time Grand Slam champion, who possesses an abundance of expertise from competing in the Olympics.

He said, “I’m not nervous right now. When the time comes, I will be. And yes, obviously, he’s already experienced this, he already knows what it’s like to play in the Olympics, to win a gold in both singles and doubles. I’m new, I’m the rookie here, so I have to keep my mouth shut and just listen to him.”

The storyline involving Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz looks promising as the Paris Olympics approaches. With Alcaraz’s growing star power and Rafael Nadal’s seasoned experience, this partnership is sure to captivate tennis fans everywhere.

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Nadal ‘not comfortable’ ahead of Olympics bid

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Rafael Nadal Paris Olympics

Rafael Nadal will head to the Paris Olympics chasing a third gold medal but admitted his “level was so far from what it should be” after losing in the Bastad clay-court final on Sunday.

The 38-year-old Spanish great went down to a straight-sets defeat to Portuguese journeyman Nuno Borges in his first final since capturing a 14th French Open in 2022.

“The level was so far from what it should be. Probably the energy too,” said Nadal.

Rafael Nadal returns to competition as he prepares for Paris Olympics

READ: Rafael Nadal drops hint about withdrawing from Bastad after winning four-hour match

“It has been a long week with long matches. Even if my body, I don’t have damage, that’s important — but mentally and physically, I am not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.”

Nadal was playing his first tournament since an opening round exit at the French Open in May.

He skipped Wimbledon to focus on his clay-court bag of tricks ahead of the Olympics which are being played at Roland Garros, the site of 14 of his 22 Grand Slam triumphs.

At the Games, Nadal will be looking to add to his singles gold from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and doubles victory at Rio in 2016.

As well as singles, in Paris he will team up with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.

“I played the final, that’s positive. I was able to play long matches without having an injury, that’s good,” added Nadal of his week in Sweden.

The former world number one has played just six tournaments in 2024 due to injury while his ranking has slumped to 261.

“In some way I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played on the tournament during the whole week. That’s something that I am not satisfied with,” he explained.

“I arrived here with the feeling that I was playing a good level and I was not able to show that during the whole week. That is something that I am not happy with.

“Anyway it’s a final, so I can’t say it’s a bad result because it’s the first final since a long time ago. But I was not able to feel myself comfortable enough during the whole week to be satisfied with the week of tennis that I played.”

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Rafael Nadal drops hint about withdrawing from Bastad after winning four-hour match

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Rafael Nadal Bastad Open

Rafael Nadal overcame Mariano Navone at the Bastad Open after nearly four hours on court in Sweden.

Rafael Nadal has indicated he could be forced to withdraw from the Bastad Open after prevailing in a four-hour marathon against Mariano Navone on Friday. The tennis icon made it through to his first semi-final in any competition since 2022, but he was forced to dig deep to overcome the fourth seed Navone, who took him all the way in their quarter-final tie.

The 38-year-old was on court for nearly four hours on the Swedish coast as Navone refused to back down, recovering from a double break in the final set before the legendary Spaniard sealed a 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 success. It was his second-longest ATP three-set match of his career, only dwarfed by his thriller against Novak Djokovic in 2009.

READ: “The level of tennis wasn’t up to par from my side, Carlos had it all today” Novak Djokovic lauds Carlos Alcaraz after Wimbledon thrashing

Nadal is due to play in the men’s doubles semi-final with Casper Ruud against Brazilian pair Orlando Luiz and Rafael Matos, but his comments appeared to suggest he could prioritise his recovery for the singles’ semi against Duje Adjukovic on Saturday.

“I wasn’t focused during the whole time. I was up 5-2, so I lost for some moments the concentration,” Nadal said in his post-match interview on court. “I was able to hold physically until the end. Let’s see how I am tomorrow. Today I’m alive and I’m in the semi=finals. So that’s super important. I can’t thank enough all the support here in Bastad.”

In the first set, the veteran Spaniard had to dig deep, saving two set points to come back from 4-5 and 15-40 down to break back. But Nadal lost the first set tiebreak to go a set down, which after 85 minutes on the clay represented a huge setback for the 38-year-old.

He found the going tough against the world No 29 in the second set, with Navone proving to be an equal match in getting about the court.

Nadal might have been heading for a second consecutive tiebreak after going 0-30 down with a 6-5 lead, but he showed his mettle to win the next three points to claim his first set point. With the chance to draw level and force a decider, he made no mistake, pushing Navone to the baseline before smashing home from the net to take the third set 7-5.

With two and a half hours already gone, the players would be in for a gruelling finale in the Swedish sun.

The Argentinian was beginning to dominate the play as he managed to keep his energy levels up, and had the chance to lock down the break at 2-0 and 40-0 up. But he struggled to get over the line and crucially, Nadal was able to bring the match back on serve at 1-2 before winning the next four games.

At 5-2 up and serving for the match, Nadal probably felt he finally had it in the bag but went on to lose the next three games as Navone brought it back level. However, the 23-year-old squandered a chance to retake the lead as he was broken again, and Nadal finally clinched victory with three hours and 58 minutes on the clock.

Nadal had nothing but praise afterwards for Navone, who at 23 looked to be one of the rising stars on the ATP circuit as he refused to throw in the towel against the 22-time Grand Slam winner.

“Without a doubt, it’s been very close. I’m tired! There’s been a lot of changing dynamics in every single set, he was in control, one moment I was in control At the end, no one was in control, that’s the truth,” Nadal added.

“I had a good chance in the second with the 2-0 [lead] and I was very close to losing the match in the second set, again with the 5-2 [in the third set]. He [Navone] is a great fighter and I wish him all the very best for the rest of the season.”

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