By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
The Olympic dream team is taking shape.
Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz met up at practice on the red clay of Roland Garros today ahead of this weekend’s Olympic Games in Paris.
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Alcaraz has repeatedly said it will be his “dream” to partner Nadal at the Paris Olympics.
The dream is close to becoming reality. The pair will play doubles together for Spain at the Olympics.
Two-time Olympic gold-medal champion Nadal captured the singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games defeating Lleyton Hewitt, Igor Andreev, Jurgen Melzer, Novak Djokovic and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the gold-medal match.
Eight years later, Nadal and good buddy Marc Lopez won the doubles gold at the Rio Olympics stopping Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in the semifinals before knocking off Romania’s Florin Mergea Horia Tecau in the gold-medal match.
An Alcaraz-Nadal pairing will be the most compelling Olympic men’s doubles duo since Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka partnered to claim the 2008 Olympic doubles gold medal. The Swiss squad had planned a reunion Dream Team pairing of Federer and former Hopman Cup partner Martina Hingis at the 2016 Games, but that Dream Team did not compete due to injury.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Alcaraz reiterated his main aim for the season: Win an Olympic gold medal.
“Grand Slam tournaments and Masters 1000 [events] are the priorities, but representing your country at the Games is a dream, so winning the gold medal at the Paris Games would be extraordinary and is my main goal for 2024,” Alcaraz told Le Figaro.
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