A-list pairing Rafal Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will be moving cautiously on winning medals in Olympics doubles and believe that the star power and reputation is not going to bring those shining medals, the two said in a Spanish team press conference held in the Olympic village on Wednesday.
Rafal, who has won 2008 singles gold medal and won doubles title with Marc Lopez in 2016 said, “I understand, the fascination, the hope of seeing us play together, but let’s not think that this translates into success, I think that’s a mistake.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion, Rafal Nadal, will pair up with Carlos Alcaraz for the Olympic doubles that will be held at Roland Garros for the first time. Alcaraz has just won his second SW19 title against the maestro Novak Djokovic.
The 38-year-old Nadal further continued, “At the end of the day, Carlos hasn’t played much doubles, and I haven’t played much in either doubles or singles.”
“We trust in the great moment that Carlos is in,” said Nadal.
Interestingly, both of them will be seen against each other in singles as well.
Nadal, who has a record of winning the French Open 14 times, will be competing with Alcaraz, who just clinched his first French title two months ago.
“We are going to give our all, to try and at least leave with the peace of mind of having done everything possible,” added, Nadal.
For Carlos, it is a dream come true moment, to be paired with legendary Nadal. Plus, he also voiced caution and insisted their star power was no assurance of medal-winning.
“What I can say is that we are going to do and give the best of ourselves… with great enthusiasm, let’s hope we can enjoy it and lay well,” said the 21-year-old Alcaraz.
On July 14, Alcaraz defeated Novak and became the youngest-ever defending champion to bag four Grand Slams. Djokovic will also be in Paris as the Olympic tennis tournament is being held on clay for the first time in three decades.
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