Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz Olympics link-up confirmed as pair to go in unprepared
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will play doubles together at the Olympics.
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will join forces in the men's doubles tournament at the Olympics this summer. The Spanish Grand Slam champions previously shared their wish to link-up for Paris 2024.
And their partnership is now official, with the Spanish Tennis Federation announcing their team for the Olympics on Wednesday. Nadal and Alcaraz will also compete in the singles.
It seems unlikely that they will be able to prepare for the doubles, with Alcaraz all but ruling out the option to play an ATP tournament together before the Games.
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David Ferrer and Anabel Medina announced the news that the tennis world had been waiting to hear as they spoke in Barcelona on Wednesday. After completing the selections, they confirmed which players would represent Spain in the tennis events at this year's Olympics.
"I couldn't win a medal as a player, I hope to do so as captain," Ferrer said as he shared the team picks. "One pair is Nadal and Alcaraz and the second is yet to be decided. We are confident that there may be more than one medal."
Nadal and Alcaraz will be one of two Spanish pairings for the doubles - the first time they will play together on the same side of the tennis court. Doubles world No. 2 Marcel Granollers is also expected to compete alongside Pablo Carreno Busta or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
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Nadal has also officially entered the men's singles draw for the Olympics using his protected ranking of No. 9. It means that he has not used one of the two wildcards for former Grand Slam champions given by the ITF.
Carreno Busta is also using his protected ranking to compete in the singles, while Alcaraz and Davidovich Fokina have made the cut based on their current standings.
Sara Sorribes Tormo and Cristina Bucsa will compete in the women's singles draw and will team up in the doubles. Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has chosen not to use her protected injury ranking for the Olympics and will instead use it to play Wimbledon and the US Open. She can only use it to enter two of the three events.
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The tennis event is being held at Stade Roland Garros. Nadal has a record 14 singles titles at the French Open and Alcaraz has just won the tournament for the first time, making their Olympics doubles partnership even more exciting.
Earlier this year, both men shared their wish to compete together at the Olympics and said they would try and play doubles elsewhere to get some practice in. But it seems that won't be the case as Nadal is planning to skip Wimbledon and the grass season so he can focus on the Olympics and avoid switching surfaces from clay to grass and back.
Alcaraz trusts that Nadal will be ready, having won Olympic gold in men's doubles with Marc Lopez in 2016. "Well, in principle my calendar, now, is Queens, Wimbledon, and the Olympic Games. I don't think we have time to prepare for the doubles with Nadal," he told Radio Marca. "Rafa knows how to pick up the pace in the doubles. He knows what it is to play and win the gold in both singles and doubles, we will try to adapt in the best way possible ahead of the Games."
