Rafael Nadal will team up with Carlos Alcaraz at the Olympics next month in a partnership that might need scraping off the court at Roland Garros.
Nadal is the master of clay and he skipped Wimbledon this year to make sure he is completely fit for action at a venue he’s been so successful at.
The 37-year-old has won 14 titles at Roland Garros and is the most successful clay-court player of all-time.
Alcaraz is the new kid on the block and he won his maiden Roland Garros crown last month before successfully defending his Wimbledon title.
After he thrashed Novak Djokovic in the latest grand slam final he played, Nadal had some words of encouragement for the 21-year-old.
Rafael Nadal thinks Carlos Alcaraz has an advantage over him
Nadal played in an era where he did battle on many occasions with Roger Federer – whilst Novak Djokovic was also a man on the radar at the time.
Still, the Spaniard has won 22 Grand Slam titles and has won all four of them on more than one occasion.
Now, he has a chance to claim another gold medal to go with the one in won in 2008 and he will fancy a doubles gold too.
Nadal does think that Alcaraz might find something a little bit different as his career progresses – and it’s a luxury that he or Federer weren’t afforded.
He told Tennisportalen TV: “My impression is that we are talking about a player who is going to be one of the best in history. That’s my feeling. He is a player with huge potential. Life can change quickly, that’s the truth, you never know what can happen in the future.
“But today if we have to predict what is going on in his career we predict amazing things. His level of tennis is super high, of course, Sinner is there, but I think him with Sinner over the rest today without a doubt. I don’t see a lot of players who can stop him on tour.
“I think the best thing that he has today is that in every tournament that he plays, he is going to be the favourite. That’s something in my generation probably never happened. I was probably favourite on clay, but on grass it was Roger and on hard it was Roger and Novak.
“But no one player was the favourite before every tournament. Today I feel like he has that. That’s a big advantage.”
What Nadal said about playing in the Olympics with Alcaraz
This is going to be the most intriguing partnership in the whole competition when the doubles get underway in Paris.
The two players do share a number of qualities, not least the ability to show immense courage and determination on the court.
Back in April when the pair agreed to play together at the Olympics, Nadal was clearly excited by the announcement.
He told Eurosport: “Carlos doesn’t have to ask me anything, all things being well, we’re going to play. It’s hugely exciting for me. It would be great to play and build up a rapport on the court.”
The draw for the tournament won’t be too far away and most other pairings heading for Paris will be praying they don’t draw Nadal and Alcaraz first up.
Nadal makes great point about Alcaraz in the future
With Alcaraz on four grand slams, it really is difficult to see who will be challenging him during the future.
Only Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Djokovic in the current top 10 in the world rankings has won a grand slam and the competition needs to get their act together.
Alcaraz looks set to dominate for years to come and it’s an exciting time for the Spaniard to be embarking on his career.
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