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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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TENNIS

Paris Olympics: Coco Gauff Takes Inspiration From Danielle Collins

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Coco Gauff Danielle Collins

There are three days to go before the Paris Olympics and Coco Gauff is ready for the event.

Known to showcase her extraordinary fashion game on the court, Gauff is not making any exceptions for the Olympics. Right before she attended the event as a debutante, this 20-year-old American showcased her diva self by following her teammate Danielle Collins‘ path. Is Gauff gearing up to bag her first Olympic medal in Paris?

Before the commencement of the Paris Olympics, participants are trying to lift their spirits for this exclusive event. America’s Coco Gauff, set to represent her country, showcased her Paris Olympics enthusiasm by donning a special fashion. She shared a photo of her nail art that perfectly represented the dominant colors of America’s national flag, red and blue. Sharing the image on her official Instagram story, Gauff wrote, “Paris soonnn.” She also added the American national flag emoji to help her followers understand where she sought the aesthetic inspiration for her new nail art, who happened to be her fellow teammate!

Coco Gauff has big plans for 2024 Paris Olympics - NBC Sports

READ: Coco Gauff Breaks the Myth Surrounding Lower-Ranked Players

Now, Gauff is not the only WTA star who showcased this interesting fashion before the Paris Olympics. Her teammate Danielle Collins also donned similar nail art inspired by her country’s United States flag. Sharing its pictures on her social media, Collins wrote, “Olympics here I come.” The Olympic nail art trend crossed the borders of the United States and reached Canada. WTA star Bianca Andreescu also opted for French manicure short square nails with the top highlighted by colors inspired by the hues of Canada’s national flag.

While the Paris Olympics have encouraged WTA stars to go to extra lengths to make sure they look gorgeous while trying their heart and soul for the medal, Coco Gauff’s followers are quite used to seeing her donning new nails before any special event. Before attending Wimbledon, Gauff showcased an adorable fashion sense through her nail art.

This 20-year-old WTA star lifted her 2024 Wimbledon doubles trophy by showing off her pretty nails that perfectly captured Wimbledon’s essence. Showing off small oval nails in transparent polish and French manicure tips, Gauff represented her great fashion game by adding small strawberries to some of her nails. Given that enjoying strawberries and cream as equally iconic as Wimbledon’s charm, Gauff’s nails enhanced her presence.

She also donned raven-themed nail art for the 2022 Halloween celebration where the WTA star dressed as the Raven from the Teen Titans. Adding the hues of black and purple with spooky elements such as spider webs and cute polka dots in white and black, Gauff’s Halloween nails were too gorgeous for her followers to miss.

Nevertheless, her recent nail art for the upcoming Paris Olympics represents her inner enthusiasm for the event. After all, she couldn’t attend the Tokyo Olympics after being tested positive for Covid 19. This year is special for her being the debutante and her excitement is visible through her reactions.

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TENNIS

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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“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

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Wimbledon Carlos Alcaraz  Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic was well beaten in a one sided beating from Carlos Alcaraz with a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 defeat which was only prolonged after the Spaniard spurned 40-0 up on championship point at 5-4. It is back-to-back Wimbledon crowns and agony for a second straight year for Djokovic.

Djokovic still awaits number 25 and he still awaits his 8th and landmark Wimbledon title which would see him tie with Roger Federer as the undisputed king of Wimbledon. But for the Serbian, he was as ever gracious in defeat. Annabel Croft doing the presentation on court had a blunder and said that Alcaraz looked very hot today which caused a lot of laughter.
To which Djokovic agreed before praising his rival to the hilt and saying he was simply not good enough for what Alcaraz produced on Sunday evening. Only a few weeks removed from knee surgery, Djokovic reaching the final in itself was a miracle but he couldn’t complete the final part of said miracle.
Carlos Alcaraz downs Novak Djokovic in thriller to claim maiden Wimbledon title and second Grand Slam - Eurosport

READ: “If someone steps over the line, I react”: Novak Djokovic stands by calling crowd disrespectful at Wimbledon

“That’s what I was about to say. He was definitely very hot today. Obviously not the result I wanted. Especially the first few sets.. the level of tennis wasn’t up to par from my side. Credit to Carlos. He had it all today. I saved the 3 match points.. I extended the match a bit. But he was an absolutely deserved winner today. Huge congratulations,” said Djokovic.
But he was also asked to give thanks to his family and got emotional in a message to them including to his son Stefan chasing his own tennis career.
“To my wife.: I love you. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for being here. To my wonderful children, thank you for bringing the smile to my face every single day. I keep on tearing up every year when I look at them at the closing ceremony. I’m so thankful to be the father of these two little angels. They’re starting to love tennis more and more. I don’t know if I have the nerve to keep going with my coaching career with my son. There are a lot of beautiful things in life.. but if you really wish to keep going, I’ll be there for you”

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TENNIS

Why I had to kick Novak Djokovic off the court at Wimbledon

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Novak Djokovic

Jessica Matthews, 19, has been mixing with the stars during her stint as a hitting partner at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic was running five minutes over his allotted time slot on the Wimbledon practice courts at Aorangi Park, but kept hitting. Hovering at the edge of the court, 19-year-old Jessica Matthews started to slowly make her way into his line of sight.

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll leave,” Djokovic said, putting his hands up in apology, and headed to pack up his rackets.

READ: “If someone steps over the line, I react”: Novak Djokovic stands by calling crowd disrespectful at Wimbledon

When Matthews became a hitting partner at Wimbledon, kicking seven-time champion Djokovic off the court was not on her bingo card. But needs must.

“I was due to be hitting with [Danish player] Clara Tauson,” Matthews tells i. “We only had a half-hour hit, so we looked at each other and were like, ‘I think it’s time’. We slowly started creeping on and Djokovic was like sorry, sorry. He was hitting with his son Stefan. It was a crazy experience, kicking off Djokovic when everyone is watching him play.”

Matthews has been getting accustomed to rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in tennis for the past two years in her role at Wimbledon. Her job is quite simple: help the best players in the world practise during the most high-pressure fortnight of the year.

Matthews grew up in Hertfordshire and did well as a junior before heading to the University of Iowa to study economics and finance, as well as play college tennis.

She is on her summer holidays now and, here at Wimbledon over the last three weeks, Matthews has been putting in a shift. She is the only female hitting partner employed by Wimbledon, so is in high demand.

“Some days I’ve been playing a total of six to seven hours,” she says. “The legs have been a bit shaky. But when you’re on your sixth hour of the day, your legs are completely exhausted, you can’t turn down another hit because you don’t know when you’ll get to hit with somebody that good again.”

Each session is different. Sometimes she delivers serves over and over again for those that want to hone their returning. She thumps baseline shots across the net by the dozen too, and offers up backhand slices to the best of her ability. Whatever the player wants to work on, she is their woman.

While a small number of top female players travel with a hitting partner, and some favour hitting with men – to try to match the speed and power they experience against the best female opponents – Matthews says she hits a flatter ball, mirroring the majority of women on tour.

Matthews is speaking to i on a drizzly afternoon at the Aorangi Park courts, after hitting with two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur. She has also fulfilled appointments with Spain’s Paula Badosa and British veteran Heather Watson, to name a few.

Matthews might as well call this her second home, as she spends up to 10 hours at the All England Club a day, with access to player locker rooms, restaurants and even sometimes sneaking onto Centre Court to watch the action.

Her favourite moments have come across at practice though. Matthews swallowed her nerves last year during a hit with five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams – which she says remains her most intense session to date. She also befriended former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka and Nick Kyrgios even slid into her DMs (direct messages) on Instagram after she watched his practice session with Djokovic.

“I was basically stood right next to them,” Matthews says. “Kyrgios DM’d me afterwards asking for the videos I took. He was like ‘hey thanks for coming, do you mind sending them to me?’. I was like, of course!”

Above all, she feels like the experience is helping her become a better player – because she is practicing with the best in the world, and gaining opportunities to get top level coaching too.

“Heather’s coach helped me adapt my ball toss. He said he could tell where I was going to serve based on my toss, so we fixed that. [France’s] Diane Parry’s coach was really nice talking to me about the tour, how it’s difficult in the opening stages but you get used to it once you start getting up in the ranks. It was good advice.”

Matthews hopes she will one day be back at Wimbledon as a player herself. For now, getting to know the British pack has been one of the best ways of getting to grips with the pressure involved with competing at Wimbledon: “I was meant to hit with Emma Raducanu but the rain came. I was sad about that. Andy Murray is super nice. I also messaged his brother Jamie asking about the Queen’s tournament where he’s the tournament director, about being a potential hitter there next year. He recognised me and came up to me here the other day.

“Heather Watson’s been so sweet on the court too. We did some doubles practice and she was joking that we should play together. I was like, count me in!”

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“If someone steps over the line, I react”: Novak Djokovic stands by calling crowd disrespectful at Wimbledon

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Wimbledon Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic eased past Holger Rune on Monday evening at Wimbledon, but it wasn’t the win that hit the headlines.

It was his post match interview and reaction to the crowd which he stood by.
Djokovic wished them all a ‘gooooood night’ amid perceived booing instead of chants of ‘Ruuune’ like he was told. He said he knew the tricks of the trade and wasn’t going to be roped in by supposed falsities about what the crowd were doing.
Novak Djokovic

READ: ‘You Can’t Touch Me’- Triggered Novak Djokovic Rips Haters Apart

He said afterwards simply that if the crowd does something he doesn’t like he will react. Used to being the pantomime villain of tennis to some, he is used to the booing and jeering so it is nothing new but it shows don’t poke the bear if you don’t want what comes next. Djokovic also has often used it as fuel to the fire in order to win matches and it seemed to be the case again here.
“I don’t know what Wimbledon can really do about it. In those particular moments, when the crowd paid their ticket… They have the right to be there and cheer the way they want to cheer. That’s absolutely, you know… how they choose to behave or support the player is really up to them. Yes.. You could argue that maybe a chair umpire or whoever could step in during certain moments and calm them down.
“But there’s not much you can do.. you’re not gonna take out the section of the whole stadium out because they’re behaving or showing disrespect. It’s just the way it is. It’s part of the sport. It’s one of the reasons we’re here… it’s why the tournament is so important historically and why we’re globally recognized as tennis players is because of the fans. Because of the interest they put into watching tennis matches, paying tickets.. I respect that. I try to acknowledge that. All the true tennis fans that really respect players.. of course you’re gonna support one player over the other. It’s solely up to them. It’s fully understandable. They have the freedom to choose who they back in the match. If someone steps over the line, I react. That’s basically what it was. After the match I said what I said.”
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Wimbledon 2024: Fate Plays Spoilsport With Novak Djokovic as Jannik Sinner’s Failure Yields No Profits

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Jannik Sinner Novak Djokovic

Daniil Medvedev gets his revenge on Jannik Sinner!

Both of them met each other twice before this encounter and on both of those occasions, it was the Italian who had the last laugh over the Russian. He ended Sinner’s Wimbledon journey at the QF in yet another five-set thriller. However, the 22-year-old tennis star was seen struggling a bit due to illness and was forced to take a medical timeout in the third set. This loss has now deprived him of reaching a second consecutive Wimbledon SF as well as grabbing his second major title of the season. Will it also snatch his top spot in men’s singles ranking?

No, this defeat has nothing to do with his top spot at the moment. Sinner will remain the world number one no matter who wins the Wimbledon Championships this year. Currently, Jannik Sinner sits at the top of the Live ATP Ranking table with 9570 points. Second on that list is the former world number one, Novak Djokovic with 7560 points. So, that’s almost a 2010-point gap with the second-best!

READ: ‘You Can’t Touch Me’- Triggered Novak Djokovic Rips Haters Apart

Alexander Zverev however has climbed up the list to secure the third spot with 7015 points, while Carlos Alcaraz sits at the fourth spot with 6930 points. Among all these four players, only Djokovic and Alcaraz are still alive in this tournament. No one can take away his crown at SW19 but if the Spaniard continues her title triumph run and manages to grab his fourth major title then he’d close the gap with Sinner with just 250 points.

Jannik Sinner has had an outstanding season so far this year, having already won four titles and boasting a win-loss record of 42-5. Surely, he must be very disappointed after failing to keep up with the ‘predators’ on the ‘grass’. What exactly did he say after the match?

Shortly after finishing the match on the losing side, the world number one appeared for a post-match press conference. During the interaction with journalists, he revealed that he “didn’t feel great” right from the morning. He mentioned struggling with fatigue, which made things even tougher for him. “I was not feeling great. I didn’t vomit. But I took some time because I was dizzy quite a lot. Off-court, I had the toughest time. When I went back, I tried my best,” said Jannik Sinner.

He believes he played really well throughout the tournament, but the ending didn’t go as planned. However, he emphasized that not once did he consider retiring from the match. The Italian revealed, “I was never thinking about retiring. For sure the crowd helped me a lot trying to push me. You don’t want to retire in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam.” In the end, he also acknowledged the valiant efforts put in by Medvedev during the match. He praised Medvedev for playing some really good tennis and making some ‘smart’ moves.

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‘You Can’t Touch Me’- Triggered Novak Djokovic Rips Haters Apart

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Novak Djokovic

‘You Can’t Touch Me’- Triggered Novak Djokovic Rips Haters Apart Amid Controversial Moment During Holger Rune Match

History has marked several incidents where it wasn’t just a player against Novak Djokovic, but the whole crowd backing his rival. While the Serb has extensive experience maintaining his composure in pressure situations like these, nothing can turn him down. A similar instance was recorded in his latest match against Holger Rune at Wimbledon, and the Serb seems to have taken it quite seriously.

Novak Djokovic’s dominance is making it hard for his rivals to cope. During the pre-quarters showdown against Holger Rune, the Serb wasted no time taking control. He easily won the first set, leaving the young Dane with just three games. While fans passionately rooted for Rune, they continued to cheer his name, which somehow offended the Serb as he mistook it for booing.

READ: Coco Gauff Breaks the Myth Surrounding Lower-Ranked Players

Initially mocking the noises, Nole decided to treat them with a philosophical lesson after winning the match. “I don’t accept it. I’ve been on the tour for more than 20 years. I know all the tricks. It’s fine, I focus on the people that have respect and paid the tickets to come and watch.” Along with this calm explanation, he also offered a savage response. “I’ve played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You can’t touch me,” Djokovic added.

This was just another instance of the Serb handling haters in his own way. In recent years, marked by his meteoric rise, both social media and physical appearances have brought him through those who didn’t like to see him win. When asked about these people, Djokovic used a lesson from Kobe Bryant as his armor. “Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones,” he said in a press conference back in 2023.

Despite facing a harsh crowd, Novak Djokovic didn’t let it affect his performance. While many wonder how he manages to handle all of this, the Serb has an answer.

Back at the Monte Carlo Masters, Djokovic received similar treatment while playing local favorite Lorenzo Musetti. The crowd might not have had anything against the Serb, but they chose to support the Italian one-sidedly. He addressed the concern in a press conference, but it didn’t seem to be a problem for him.

“I try to transform the energy into something that is constructive for me. I am not looking for trouble with the crowd. I’m not there coming out okay start whistling then I’ll play better. It’s not the kind of mentality I have,” he said. Novak Djokovic has earned immense glory, titles, and achievements even in situations where the odds were against him. As he continues to move forward despite the challenges, there’s no doubt the tennis world still has the same old ‘Djoker’.

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Coco Gauff Breaks the Myth Surrounding Lower-Ranked Players

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coco gauff wimbledon

Dispelling the myth! Second seed, Coco Gauff defended lower-ranked players by stating, “Seed is just a number” after her recent defeat to Emma Navarro (ranked 17) in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

This Grand Slam is the only one where the 20-year-old American tennis star has failed to reach the last eight, marking her third exit at this stage of the tournament. As the world number 2, she was the hope of millions of American tennis fans at Wimbledon. With several top seeds already having exited the tournament, did these factors add extra pressure on her?

“Not really! Because I’ve seen and played so many slams where anybody can win. And the seed is just a number,” Gauff said in the post-match press conference. She clarified that being seeded only means avoiding another seed in the first round -“It doesn’t mean you can’t lose. We’ve seen how a lot of seeds drop out. We’ve seen defending champions drop out. It means nothing.” Gauff thought her draw was tricky, as the players, though not widely known, were still talented.

She added, “I think that’s something that people… fans of the game are a little bit disrespectful when it comes to other players on tour. Maybe the ranking isn’t there. But the level is there. And they’re here for a reason. They deserve their spot.“Gauff emphasized that there are no easy draws in tennis, as everyone competes to win. She finds it disrespectful to think, “Yeah this girl is ranked whatever and she’s this age… I should be able to win.”

Coco Gauff revealed that she approaches every match with a “competitive mindset” regardless of rankings or opponents. This season, ahead of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, Gauff confessed that she is one of those players who does not look at the rankings at all. “For me personally, ranking has never been like a thing for me. I just never look. Even if I did look, I wouldn’t care,” she said. For her, it’s “more about titles” than ranking.

However, Gauff’s opponent’s incredible tennis in the previous competition left her seeking help from her box. What did both players say about the match?

Previously, Chris Evert stated that the winner between Gauff and Navarro would become the favorite to win the title. Emma Navarro might have taken those words to heart, as she has now reached her first quarterfinal in a major tournament. After the match, Coco Gauff admitted, “We had a game plan going in. I felt that it wasn’t working. I don’t always ask for advice on the box. Today was one of those rare moments where I felt I didn’t have solutions.” She took full responsibility for the disappointing result.

On the other hand, ecstatic Emma Navarro knew it would never be easy to play against Coco Gauff. She said, “Coco’s obviously a really amazing player, I have a ton of respect for her and what she’s done at such a young age is really amazing. And I knew she wasn’t going to make it easy on me tonight, but I wanted to play aggressively and push back against her game and I think I was able to do that.”

The match saw several changes in tempo. Seeing Gauff frustrated and looking to her box for help boosted Navarro’s confidence. She gained energy and capitalized on the momentum to win the all-American duel.

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