The 22-time Grand Slam champion only had this category left to add the third medal of his career. The one from Manacor, on the other hand, is still alive in singles.
Rafael Nadal bids farewell to Paris 2024 without a medal. He first tried his hand at singles but fell in the second round against Novak Djokovic. Now, in the round of the best eight of the doubles, he has also suffered elimination. This dream duo that he formed with Carlos Alcaraz falls on the road against Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram by 2-6 and 4-6, in what will be the last time that the 22-time Grand Slam champion will compete in the rings event.
The tennis legends were once again facing a pair of specialists. In the first round, there were the Argentinians González/Molteni. Then the Dutchman Griekspoor/Koolhof. Now, in the quarter-finals, the American doubles of Krajicek and Ram. Of course, the Americans were a cut above the Europeans’ previous opponents. While the first of the duo was champion at Roland Garros last year, the second became the oldest world number one in history a few months ago.
An experience that was noticeable from the beginning of the duel. With very little margin, the Spaniards were victims of an aggressive game on the part of their rivals, who quickly looked for the body and closed the spaces by going up to the net. They went bankrupt at the beginning Games then they punished again in the seventh game. Nadal and Alcaraz, for their part, had only one break chance in the entire set and although they delivered some weekly repetition points, the feeling throughout this set was that it was difficult for them to generate damage.
The set was 6-2 in favor of Krajicek and Ram, who lost this absolute domination in the second set. More confident, Nadal and Alcaraz (who were playing singles earlier) managed to improve their game, being more aggressive from the baseline and well at the net. They reached 3-3 when the problems started again.
The world number three in singles committed two unforced errors in the first two points and when they were at 0-30, a hit on the net strap created a triple break chance. Tensions increased due to an accusation against the Spanish duo that meant the confirmation of the punishment. Nadal and Alcaraz claimed it but the decision had already been made.
This small difference allowed the drama to settle in, but in the long run, it was enough. By stretching the actions to 5-4 and the service, the North American duo had to save three break points against them before eliminating the most appreciated duo of these Olympic Games. The idea of seeing Nadal win his third Olympic medal alongside the new star of the circuit was a dream for most fans of the circuit. Now, everything remained a wish.
Alcaraz, for his part, is still alive in singles. Early in the morning he beat the Russian Roman Safiullin and qualified for the quarter-finals. In the round of 16, his rival is already clear: the American Tommy Paul.
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
