Rafael Nadal has a strong relationship with Carlos Alcaraz, but the 38-year-old thinks it would be even more special if they were not at different stages of their careers.
Nadal and Alcaraz's doubles partnership for Spain has been one of the event's highlights. Large crowds came to watch the pair during all their matches at Roland-Garros. They were one of the most high-profile doubles teams in tennis history.
The Spaniards made a promising start in their opening two matches. They triumphed against Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez before overcoming Wesley Koolhof and Tallon Griekspoor in the following round.
Sadly, their journey stopped in the quarterfinal. The experienced Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram ended Nadal and Alcaraz's hopes of a doubles gold medal by easily defeating them 6-2, 6-4.
Alcaraz's loss was not as fatal since he is still in the men's singles. He progressed to the semifinals with a straight-sets victory against Tommy Paul, who had beaten the 21-year-old on two previous occasions.
Unfortunately for Nadal, his time in Paris is over after losing to the American pair. He lost in the men's singles in straight sets to his old rival Novak Djokovic in a match that never matched their previous meetings.
Nadal has refused to answer whether he will continue his career after his Olympics exit. However, when asked whether he would play at the US Open, the 22-time Grand Slam champion gave a disappointing answer.
Recent developments could make Nadal reminisce about his time at the very top of men's tennis. The tennis legend said he and Alcaraz could have shared many beautiful moments if he were ten years younger.
"Just simply, we are in a completely different lifetime momentum. That's the truth… If my age will be 10 years less, we're going to create a beautiful relationship on tour and we're going to share a lot of beautiful moments together but that's not going to happen.”
Despite this, Nadal still has a terrific relationship with his four-time Grand Slam-winning compatriot, and he fully expects that to continue.
“We have a very good relationship. In Spain we are friendly people, we like to share things together and I am sure that I am going to keep having a very positive relationship with Carlos.”
Nadal went further by saying he would keep supporting Alcaraz even if he is not at events himself anymore. This is because of the 14-time French Open champion's positive relationship with him and his love for the sport.
"But of course I will be supporting him from home and wishing him all the very best every single time and even if I keep playing or not, I love tennis.. I will be around less than before."
Tennis fans worldwide will hope the Olympics was not the final chapter of Nadal's incredible career. The sport is undoubtedly better when he is competing. Nadal has proven people wrong before, and he will need to do that again if he is to challenge for big trophies again.