Olympic Super Tiebreakers are “Unnecessary”

 
By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty

Nadalcaraz is lighting up Paris and Rafael Nadal wants to pull the plug on one Olympic rule.

After King of Clay Nadal and reigning Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz defeated Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-2 at the Paris Olympic doubles, the 38-year-old Spanish superstar called for change.

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Two-time Olympic gold-medal champion Nadal said he’s opposed to the Olympics playing a 10-point super tiebreaker in lieu of a third-set given the stakes at hand and the fact the Olympics occurs only once every four years.

For those reasons, Nadal favors playing out a full final set in Olympic doubles rather than deciding a match on “the lottery of the super tiebreaker.”

“You have to always be focused. And even more so with a format like this that on a personal level it is unnecessary to have a Games with super tie-break,” Nadal told the media in Paris. “It is played on the circuit and it is understandable because it favors the singles players to play.

“But the Games are every four years and for the singles players it is the most important tournament of our careers, so I don’t understand why they want to reward the lottery of the super tie-break and not a three-set match.”