The Spanish tennis duo of Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz made their debut with a victory this Saturday within the Olympic doubles event in Paris 2024, a double debut for Alcaraz who additionally gained within the morning session within the singles draw, simply as Serbian Novak Djokovic superior on the trail of the Balearic.
It needed to be seen to be believed and it lastly turned a actuality on the Philippe Chatrier. A month and a half after profitable Roland Garros, Alcaraz returned to the Parisian centre alongside the 14-time French Open champion, a Nadal who, in case there was any doubt, seemed pretty much as good on the court docket as he did on the Opening Ceremony the evening earlier than.
The rain disrupted the Olympic tennis programme, which didn’t enable a single match exterior the centre and the Suzanne Lenglen, the place Alcaraz defeated the Lebanese Hady Habib, quantity 275 on the planet, 6-3 and 6-1 within the second spherical of the day.
The primary occasion was within the afternoon, in a doubles match that can go down in historical past in Spanish sport and tennis simply by stepping onto the court docket, and much more so now that they’re within the spherical of 16 after beating Argentines Máximo González and Andrés Molten 7-6(4) and 6-4. With hardly any expertise on this format and the nerves of the beginning, Alcaraz began making extra errors, however Nadal pulled the cart within the roofed and packed Philippe Chatrier court docket.
As he had warned, regardless of struggling some bodily discomfort on Wednesday, the participant from Manacor confirmed larger inspiration within the Spanish jersey and delivered good photographs from the beginning. The Argentines, with 5 titles final 12 months out of the eight of their checklist of achievements, began by breaking the participant from Murcia, however rapidly discovered themselves behind (1-2) with Nadal giving it his all on the internet.
Alcaraz reacted in time to assist the Balearic participant in his stoop and the break went round either side of the court docket till it got here to a tie-break. There, with all the pieces very tight, the Murcian pulled off a masterful lob and the Balearic participant, a profitable return, to offer a Spanish color to the primary set. The Argentines, sixth seeded, reacted.
The South American duo took a step ahead, actually with their recreation on the internet, and achieved an intimidating 0-3 within the second act. Nevertheless, it was solely a break down and the Spaniards wakened from their nap by exhibiting their high quality, despite the fact that that they had by no means shared it on the court docket till as we speak. The Spanish duo made it 3-3 and got here shut to a different break, which got here with a definitive 5-4.
