Spain’s dream team of Alcaraz and Nadal dig deep to advance in Olympic doubles
When a 12-year-old Carlos Alcaraz was asked to name his favourite tennis player, his answer was not what many would have expected. During his childhood, Alcaraz saw himself most in Roger Federer’s high-octane, all-court attacking style, the brand of tennis that he aspired to copy.
In recent years, that answer has changed. With age, it seems, Alcaraz has come to truly understand the undeniable influence Rafael Nadal has had over his career and of so many around him.
Having already experienced the ecstasy of defeating his idol in battle, this time Spain’s past and future greats converged on the same side of the court. Despite Nadal’s lack of matches and Alcaraz’s unfamiliarity with doubles, the Spaniards thrived under pressure in the decisive moments as they toppled Andrés Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez, the sixth seeds from Argentina, to reach the second round of the Olympics with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win.
“It was a dream come true, honestly,” said Alcaraz. “I dreamed about playing my debut in the Olympic Games, but playing with Rafa it was even more special. I’m really happy about the level we played, I’m really happy to give us the chance to keep going, to play another round. I think our level is good enough to believe and hopefully keep going.”
Since Nadal revealed that he was keen to play doubles with Alcaraz at the Olympics, the hype has been overwhelming. It reached fever pitch just before 7pm on Saturday night as Billie Jean King was ushered on to the court – to a standing ovation – to hype up the stadium before two more champions emerged.
Even the opponents added to the occasion. As has been the case for most Argentinian athletes so far at the Olympics, Gonzalez and Molteni were booed from the moment they stepped on to the court (the Argentina football team were filmed singing a derogatory song aimed at a number of France players during their Copa América celebrations) and the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd was relentless in their support of their Roland Garros champions.
Alcaraz has played doubles at only six tournaments and that inexperience was painfully clear early on as he struggled with his decision-making and looked clueless at the net. While Nadal tried to take control he also struggled with his return and timing on his groundstrokes. The Argentinians, meanwhile, are solid top 20 doubles players and regular partners. Amid bursts of brilliance from Nadal and Alcaraz, Molteni and Gonzalez were solid on serve and return and defended the net well.
