By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Picture credit score: Mutua Madrid Open Fb
The Olympic dream crew is taking form.
Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz met up at follow on the purple clay of Roland Garros at the moment forward of this weekend’s Olympic Video games in Paris.
Extra: Alcaraz Dismisses Djokovic to Defend Wimbledon
Alcaraz has repeatedly stated it is going to be his “dream” to associate Nadal on the Paris Olympics.
The dream is near changing into actuality. The pair will play doubles collectively for Spain on the Olympics.
Two-time Olympic gold-medal champion Nadal captured the singles gold medal on the 2008 Beijing Video games defeating Lleyton Hewitt, Igor Andreev, Jurgen Melzer, Novak Djokovic and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez within the gold-medal match.
Eight years later, Nadal and good buddy Marc Lopez gained the doubles gold on the Rio Olympics stopping Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil within the semifinals earlier than knocking off Romania’s Florin Mergea Horia Tecau within the gold-medal match.
An Alcaraz-Nadal pairing would be the most compelling Olympic males’s doubles duo since Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka partnered to assert the 2008 Olympic doubles gold medal. The Swiss squad had deliberate a reunion Dream Group pairing of Federer and former Hopman Cup associate Martina Hingis on the 2016 Video games, however that Dream Group didn’t compete attributable to damage.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Alcaraz reiterated his major purpose for the season: Win an Olympic gold medal.
“Grand Slam tournaments and Masters 1000 [events] are the priorities, however representing your nation on the Video games is a dream, so successful the gold medal on the Paris Video games could be extraordinary and is my major objective for 2024,” Alcaraz informed Le Figaro.
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