During his press conference in Cincinnati, Carlos Alcaraz reflected on the unforgettable experience of playing Olympic doubles with his idol, Rafael Nadal. The Spanish pair reached the quarter-finals but were ultimately defeated by eventual silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States.
“It was a great experience, talking with Rafa off the court, knowing each other much better off the court. It was a great experience, obviously, playing doubles together. It was great,” Alcaraz said during his press conference Sunday in Cincinnati. “It was something that I will never forget, for sure. I learned a lot talking to him on court, off the court as well. I think we played a great tennis in doubles, even if we are not used to playing doubles very often.
“A little bit disappointing at the end, because we thought that we could do it better, but in general, we were happy. And obviously talking about myself, I reached my dream, my dream came true, playing doubles alongside Rafa.”
While in Paris, Carlos took the opportunity to learn from his countryman’s vast experience. When asked which advice from Rafa had the most impact, here’s what he shared:
“How to deal with some situations playing doubles. Sometimes when we were down, he was there in a positive way, talking to me like, ‘Well, right now they are going to feel [it] with the pressure. We have to just stay there, put some balls in, try to get them in trouble. Some situations, some things that you probably don’t see, or is difficult to see, he sees very, very clear and off the court, how to prepare the difficult situations or the matches. It [was] a master class.”
Source: ATP Tour
La realidad
Un sueño cumplido por parte de Carlos
Y la experiencia de Rafa en activo
Sois maravillosos, sin restar importancia a los demás jugadores
Rafa yo, siempre contigo
Nice words by Carlitos❤️
From the Master to the Pupil…….I have always admired Rafa’s wisdom on court and glimpses of it out of court. And now I have witnessed the humility of Carlos, willing to learn and admitting he’s not there yet but by the looks of it, will be there sooner than he realizes.
Today, it will always be Rafa for me, remembering how cold my extremities become – my hands go icy-cold like in the 5th set of the Australian Open 2022. In the 4th set, Rafa discovered a solution by driving backhands down the line. He looked at his box and Carlos Moya gestured ‘why not, it works!’ And in the 5th, by the time Medvedev realized that Rafa abandoned his usual crosscourt pattern, it was too late! At this point, Rafa went to ‘godmode’ lassoing his shots at the flustered Daniil. And the Australian audience, hands in prayer carried Rafa to sweet victory!
And at the Olympics 2024, the crowd this time, was not focused on the match being played, but instead chants of ‘Rafa, Rafa’ permeated Court Philippe Chatrier. The fans wanted the moments on court to last as long as they were able…..