EXPECTATION is rising among tennis fans that the two Spanish stars, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, could play together at the upcoming Paris Olympics this summer, in what would be a ‘dream’ combination according to greats of the sport such as former player Alex Corretja.
The doubles pairing would also be an historic one, given that Nadal, 37, has announced that this year will likely be the last of his playing career.
The players are yet to confirm a potential pairing at the Olympics, but they did respond to questions about it at the recent Mutua Madrid Open.
“He doesn’t have to ask me anything about it,” Nadal said when questioned about the pairing. “If there is nothing strange going on, we will play.”
“If we both arrive in good condition it would be nice and we can make a good pair and aspire to beautiful things,” said Alcaraz, 21, at the same tournament. “And it would also be a good thing for both of us and for the Spanish team.”
The obstacles in the way, however, include tournaments first in Rome and then at Roland Garros.
“Both tournaments are really important for us in singles and we are not going to arrive in the best physical conditions,” said Alcaraz. “So it’s going to be difficult to play a tournament before the Games, but it could be great.
“As I have said many times, if everything goes well, we will play doubles there, but until that happens we have many weeks to go,” said Alcaraz, in comments reported by La Opinion de Murcia. He added that, if he had to choose, he would “prefer to win the Olympic gold than Roland Garros.”
