Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will team up in the doubles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and they have already learned their faith.
Running from July 27th to August 4th, the Olympic tennis tournament will be in the center of attention of all of the tennis fans. The climax of the men's doubles competition will come already one day earlier, as the gold-medal match will be played on Saturday, August 3rd, 2024.
All 32 entered teams will be hoping to play in that final, and that applies also to the Spanish duo of Alcaraz and Nadal. The more experienced player of the two has a memory of winning a gold medal at the Olympics, and not just once.
In 2008, he beat Fernando Gonzalez in the final of the Beijing Olympics and eight years later, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he teamed up with Marc Lopez to win a gold also in doubles.
This year, he will try to repeat both feats, but the latest reports suggest that Nadal has been dealing with a physical issue ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics that may see him withdraw from the singles competition and focus only on doubles.
Teaming up with the recent French Open champion, the 14-time Roland Garros winner will certainly have high chances of succeeding on the courts where he had so much success, and the two have already learned their faith for the event.
Starting in the first round, they will play against the sixth-seeded team from Argentina - Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, who are an experienced doubles duo.
Should they succeed in this challenging match, the Spaniards would then play against the winners of the match between the Netherland's Wesley Koolhof and Tallon Griekspoor or Hungary's Marton Fucsovics or Fabian Marozsan.
In the possible quarter-final match, the Spanish duo could take on one of many teams, as the doubles draw is really stacked. The biggest favorites are the fourth-seeded Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram from the United States, but the Americans' first-round opponents, Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin could also challenge Nadal and Alcaraz.
The semi-final opponents for the Spanish legend and young prodigy could really be anyone from the bottom quarter of the draw as there are many really solid teams, such as the second-seeded Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz from Germany, but also the Germans' first-round opponents Daniil Medvedev and Roman Safiullin.
If they would make it all the way to the gold-medal game, Nadal and Alcaraz could face anyone from the top part of the draw. The hottest candidates will be the first-seeded Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, but the likes of Matthew Ebden and John Peers, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, but also Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic will also be among dark horses.
Alcaraz and Nadal already know when they will play their first-round match, as it will be the third match on the Court Philippe-Chatrier on Saturday, July 27th, 2024, which will be the opening day of the tennis tournament in Paris.
Below can be seen the path to the gold medals for the Spanish team, even though the men's doubles competition at the Olympic features such a strong field, that projections based on the seeding could be far from accurate.
Carlos Alcaraz's and Rafael Nadal's path at the 2024 Paris Olympics:
| Round | Opponents |
|---|---|
| Round 1 | Maximo Gonzalez & Andres Molteni (6) |
| Round 2 | Tallon Griekspoor & Wesley Koolhof / Marton Fucsovics & Fabian Marozsan |
| Quarter-Finals | Austin Krajicek & Rajeev Ram (4) |
| Semi-Finals | Kevin Krawietz & Tim Puetz (2) |
| Final | Simone Bolelli & Andrea Vavassori (1) |
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