It's the kind of news that seemed fanciful at one point, but the dream pairing of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz for Spain at the Olympic Games will happen.
The Olympic tennis tournament will kick off on July 27th and run until August 4th. In singles, 64 players will compete to win bronze, silver, or gold. In doubles, 32 teams will vie for the same medals.
Spain's team captain, David Ferrer, confirmed the much-anticipated news of Nadal's presence in Paris in late July in a press conference on Wednesday. The former World No. 1 will participate in his third Olympics and has been selected to play in singles and doubles at the event in Paris.
Both Nadal and Alcaraz have teased the possibility of joining forces for the Olympics, with the 21-year-old newly crowned Roland Garros champion recently stating that it would be a "dream" to play doubles with his childhood idol.
This year's Olympic Games will be held at Stade Roland Garros, the home of the clay-court Grand Slam. It's a place Nadal knows like the back of his hand. He's won the French Open a record 14 times and has a jaw-dropping 112-4 record at the tournament.
His last appearance there was only last month when he played Roland Garros for the first time in two years after recovering from two hip injuries. But he was handed a brutal first-round draw against fourth seed and eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.
For only the fourth time in 19 visits, Nadal lost a match on his beloved clay courts in Paris. But atoning for that loss will be his objective, as there is a possibility this could potentially be the final tournament of his decorated career, even though he has declined to confirm this.
Now that this has been confirmed, preparation will gather pace in the coming weeks. Alcaraz will be fully focused on defending his title at Wimbledon at the start of July. Thereafter, Nadal, who is training on clay, is looking to convince him to play in Hamburg in doubles before the Olympics.
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