Carlos Alcaraz played his first doubles match with Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and while they did win the match, the youngster admitted to being nervous.
Playing doubles with a player you grew up idolizing sounds like a dream come true for many players, and while it is, it can also be quite a daunting task. Alcaraz is a four-time Grand Slam champion, but he's also human and gets nervous like the rest of us.
That was apparent from the way he played at the start of the first-round doubles match at the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris, with Nadal probably being in awe of the moment and just the fact that he was playing at the Olympics.
He confirmed that in his talk to the media after the match, admitting that it wasn't so much that he was playing with Nadal but more so the moment of playing with Nadal at the Olympics on the Court Phillipe-Chatrier, which was packed with plenty of fans who just wanted to see the historic moment because it was.
Nadal is an all-time great, and Alcaraz is well on his way to becoming an all-time great.
"It wasn't Rafa himself that was imposing on me, but the situation. In the end, seeing the Philippe Chatrier stadium full, playing with Rafa, my first Olympics... It was a moment, I'll say, that was difficult to deal with the nerves."
The pairing did face some minor issues at the start of the match against Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, seeded sixth, dropping their serve relatively early, but they also broke back quickly.
As the match went on, Nadal and Alcaraz looked more comfortable with each other and eventually overpowered their opponents. It wasn't the best or cleanest match, but they showed enough promise for fans to get excited.
Alcaraz is just a monster on any part of the court, and Nadal demonstrated his strong net game. That combination can be deadly, as they will grow more comfortable with each other with every match.
Alcaraz himself was pleased with the way the pairing played, admitting that practices were really great, and ultimately, they were able to have some really nice tennis moments when it mattered the most.
"We were training very, very well and we made the most of the opportunities that were given to us and in the end we ended up playing great tennis."
There were some rumors about Nadal possibly missing the event due to a setback suffered in practice, but luckily, nothing like that happened. There were also some questions bout how the pairing would work as Alcaraz couldn't play a preparation event with Nadal, but those worries were unfounded as well.
It has worked well thus far, and they didn't face easy opponents. They faced one of the better teams in the draw, who regularly played doubles and played many times together. Now, they're in the final 16, hoping to go all the way and win that shiny gold medal.
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