Nadal and Alcaraz to join forces in Olympics doubles

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will form a doubles team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The news was officially confirmed on Wednesday by David Ferrer, the captain of the Spanish men’s team, at an event held at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona. The Spanish line-up in Paris will also include Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Marcel Granollers.

“As you all know, one of the doubles teams will be formed by Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal,” Ferrer said of the two former No. 1s in the PIF ATP Rankings, who will also both compete in singles. “The second team is yet to be decided, it’s not 100 per cent certain. There is a clear idea, but we’re going to wait a little to decide it. If nothing happens to prevent it, Rafa and Carlos will be playing together in Paris.”

Talk about a dream duo 🤩 🤝 pic.twitter.com/ie0W5nK9PD

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 12, 2024

Alcaraz will have to adjust to having a teammate by his side on court; his history in doubles is a short one. In his professional career, the Murcia native has only played nine matches in the team format, none of them coming in the past two seasons. While his meteoric rise to the top of men’s tennis came off the back of very little experience on the big stages, adapting to the team discipline will provide a new opportunity for the prodigy from El Palmar to show off his ability to learn quickly.

For his part, Nadal is one of the most experienced players on Tour when it comes to the Olympics. The Mallorcan is the only active male player to have won a gold medal in singles and doubles, a fitting record at the four-yearly event for one of the sport’s most legendary players.

The Spaniard won gold in Beijing in 2008, shortly before becoming World No. 1 for the first time. At Rio de Janeiro 2016, Nadal completed his set by climbing to the top of the doubles podium alongside his close friend Marc Lopez. This is now a feat he will look to repeat in a few months’ time on the clay of Paris 2024.

Emilio Sanchez-Vicario and Sergio Casal, who won silver in Seoul in 1988, and Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, who clinched bronze in Sidney 2000, are Spain’s only other previous medal-winners in men’s Olympic doubles.

The doubles competition in Paris will consist of a 32-team draw. Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic are the event’s defending champions after they won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020.

The tennis tournament will take place from Saturday 27 July to Sunday 4 August on the clay of Roland Garros. It will be the first time the Olympic event has been played on clay since Barcelona 1992.

Editor’s note: This article was translated from ATPTour.com/es.