Carlos Alcaraz is looking forward to playing with Rafael Nadal at the upcoming Olympics, which will be played on the Roland Garros courts.
No player left a bigger mark at Roland Garros than Nadal, who won the event 14 times, the most any player has won in any Grand Slam tournament. He’s been impossible to beat at that event, dominating it for nearly two decades.
His most recent match there wasn’t very good as he was beaten by Alexander Zverev, but a fellow Spaniard punished the German by beating him in this year’s Roland Garros final.
That player was obviously Alcaraz, who will return to those courts at the end of July. This year’s Summer Olympics will be played in Paris on the courts where he recently lifted a trophy.
He’s looking forward to returning as the reigning Roland Garros champion after winning his third career major.
“When I return to this stadium at the end of July, I will probably have some cool flashbacks that will come to mind. It will be a very special tournament, my first Olympics just after winning my first Roland.”
On top of that, playing doubles with Nadal on that court will certainly be a very special feeling for the Spaniard. He watched Nadal win gold for Spain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and now he hopes to do the same, standing next to him on the tennis court.
“Fighting for a gold medal for my country, playing doubles with my idol, Rafael Nadal, are things that I will only believe after experiencing them.”
Doing so in the doubles would make it even more special. It would also be cool for Nadal, who has spoken a lot about playing with Alcaraz in the past.
Their history at Roland Garros will certainly make them an intimidating pairing, but chemistry might prove an issue as they never played together. There are plans to fix that, though.