NOS Sport•vandaag, 20:00
Almost a stunt: Griekspoor and Koolhof defeated by ‘Nadalcaraz’
No big surprise for Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof at the Olympic tennis tournament. In the second round of the doubles they were no match for the Spanish top duo Carlos Alcaraz-Rafael Nadal: 6-4, 6-7 (2), 10-2.
The crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen, Roland Garros’ second stadium, was heavily supportive of the Spanish, with loud chants of “Rafa, Rafa!” being heard at regular intervals.
The 38-year-old Nadal is on his beloved Parisian clay court doing one of the last tricks of his career. The 22-time grand slam winner has not yet decided when exactly he will stop, but physically he is not as good and flexible as before.
Nadalcaraz
That became clear yesterday in the singles, where he was a size too small for rival and contemporary Novak Djokovic (6-1, 6-4). In the doubles, he hopes to crown his brilliant career alongside the 21-year-old super talent Alcaraz.
ReutersFists at Alcaraz and Nadal
‘Nadalcaraz’, as the duo of opportunity is called in Paris, needed only one break in the first set. Halfway through the first set, Koolhof, the only doubles specialist of the match, had to hand in his service.
The Dutch duo were unable to force any chances on the Spanish service for a long time. Only Nadal had to save a break point once.
Second set
That picture changed at 3-4 in the second set, when Alcaraz got into trouble on his service. However, two break points were not wasted on Griekspoor and Koolhof.
ReutersKoolhof and Griekspoor do not tolerate lip readers during their consultations
More than a tiebreak was therefore not possible. In that, the Dutch took a 4-1 lead. A beautiful point by Koolhof could even count on an admiring applause from Nadal. With a few solid points, Koolhof and Griekspoor dragged the set to them.
There is no third set in the Olympic tournament, but a super tiebreak to ten points. Nadal and Alcaraz took a comfortable 5-0 lead. After a few unnecessary Dutch mistakes and hard Spanish smashes, the super tiebreak was decided in the favor of ‘Nadalcaraz’ very quickly.
Other Dutch people
There are still two chances for the Netherlands to win a tennis medal in Paris. Tomorrow Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer will play for a place in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles against the Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
In the mixed doubles, Koolhof and Demi Schuurs will compete against Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani from Italy in the quarter-finals.
