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Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal were beaten in the men’s doubles quarter-finals at Paris 2024 (Image: GETTY)
Carlos Alcaraz admits he’s gutted his and Rafael Nadal’s quest for gold in the Olympics men’s doubles has ended in disappointment. But the Spaniard insists he’s still had an unforgettable week after falling in the quarter-finals.
‘Nadalcaraz’ lost 6-2, 6-4 to the USA duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram at Roland Garros on Wednesday evening. It may be the final time 14-time French Open champion Nadal ever plays on the iconic Philippe Chatrier clay-court.
The Spaniard, now 38, waved an emotional farewell to the Paris crowd after his defeat. He could retire at the end of this year after hinting he will not play the upcoming US Open.
And Alcaraz, 17 years his countryman’s junior, was sad he couldn’t help his childhood hero win a third Olympic gold. Nadal, a Beijing 2008 singles winner and Rio 2016 doubles champion, also lost in the Paris singles to Novak Djokovic on Monday.
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World No.3 Alcaraz said of playing alongside Nadal: “Well it was an unbelievable experience for me. Something I’ll never forget, for sure, playing the same side of the net as Rafa and learning from him.
“[We were] So close. It has been great for me. I enjoyed it and I tried to enjoy every single second that we played together. I think we’ve played great points, great rallies, great matches.
“But I’m a little bit disappointed right now. Obviously, we wanted to to keep going. We wanted to to get the win, and give us the the chance to fight for the medal for Spain.
“We couldn’t keep going but I’m going to try to keep this experience and try to forget this bad moment and focus on tomorrow.”
Asked if his relationship will Nadal will remain strong after this tournament, four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz, who won Wimbledon again last month, said: “Yeah for sure.
Rafael Nadal waved goodbye to Roland Garros after his doubles defeat (Image: GETTY)
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“I mean we had the chance to spend time together outside the court here in this tournament. We could spend more time and talk so much about life. That’s what I’m gonna keep for me.
“Yeah we’re gonna keep this relationship. I think it grew a lot. I learned a lot from him. Yeah I’m sure it’s gonna be better and we’re gonna stay like this.”
While Nadal added: “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.
“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.
Carlos Alcaraz can still win a medal in the men’s singles (Image: GETTY)
“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 and I will be around less than before.”
Alcaraz’s singles campaign continues in the quarter-finals tomorrow (Thursday). The second seed will face Tommy Paul, the American ninth seed, in the second match on court.
The other quarter-finals sees Norway’s Casper Ruud face Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, Germany’s Alexander Zverev versus Italian Lorenzo Musetti Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic take on Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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