Rafael Nadal has outlined what he wants to do with Carlos Alcaraz before they play doubles together at the Olympic Games.
The dream pairing became a reality when it was announced that they would team up in the French capital in what is likely to be the 37-year-old’s final Olympics.
Two generations of Spanish tennis are set to combine in a bid to bring the country success at the prestigious team tournament.
But to give themselves the best chance of success, Nadal wants to practice with the Wimbledon champion, but time is running out.
What does Rafael Nadal want to do with Carlos Alcaraz before playing doubles at the Olympics?
Nadal and Alcaraz look like a dream scenario on paper, but they have yet to work on their on-court chemistry.
The pair have not previously played doubles together and the 22-time Grand Slam champion is keen to get some practice in before they compete in Paris.
With the pair’s differing schedules, they have not found the time to practice as of yet, but Nadal believes they will find the time to do so before the Olympics begins.
“No. We have never played and we never practice doubles. In some way for both it is not a different sport, but you need to get used to how to move,” he told reporters. “It is super difficult to practice, we didn’t have the chance to play in a tournament together.
“I think we have one week left before the Olympics. We want to be practicing singles without a doubt, we will be focusing on singles. But I talked with the captain, David Ferrer, and we are going to have at least two days of doubles practice.
“It’s a motivation to play together and try to give ourselves at least a chance to fight for a beautiful thing for our country, so that’s why we are going to practice a little bit before the tournament.”
What are Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz’s doubles records?
As phenomenal as Alcaraz is in singles competition, he has little experience on the doubles court.
The World number three has played just six doubles matches in his young career and has a 50% record.
Nadal on the other hand, has 11 doubles titles to his name, including the doubles gold medal he won at the 2016 Olympics with Marc Lopez.
To boost his sharpness on the court, Nadal is playing doubles at the Bastad Open with Casper Ruud alongside his singles campaign.
The pair defeated Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela and Guido Andreozzi 6-1, 6-4, to advance to round two, while Nadal will play Leo Borg in his opening singles match.
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