Carlos Alcaraz spoke about the upcoming Paris Olympics and teaming up with Rafael Nadal, and he’s very confident about a successful run.
If you wonder how confident the 21-year-old superstar is about his tennis, you only need to watch his recent match against Novak Djokovic in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships final.
Despite not having the same preparation as last year and not playing super-clean tennis all tournament long, the Spaniard stepped up and completely outplayed the legend. According to Tracy Austin, it was almost as if he was toying with him at times.
There was no shroud of doubt in the way he approached that match, and the same confidence is being exuded by him ahead of the Paris Olympics. There is a good reason for that: he won the Roland Garros this year, beating some impressive players en route to the title.
That experience and now the Wimbledon triumph were huge confidence boosters. The goal is simple. He wants the gold medal but not just one but two: in singles and doubles.
The medal from singles is likelier because he’ll depend only on himself, and he’s been amazing recently. Doubles will be trickier because he will be playing with another player, but that player is Rafael Nadal, who has plenty of Olympics experience.
We’re not going for one gold, but for two with Rafa.
Many Spanish fans will follow the doubles with great interest. It is a rare chance for Alcaraz to play doubles with Nadal at the iconic Roland Garros venue, which certainly heightens the experience.
A strong showing will be expected from them, but they will arrive in the French capital without any practice together. Nadal wanted to play a preparation event with Alcaraz, but the younger Spaniard was busy playing in the Wimbledon final. He also confirmed that they haven’t talked much about their upcoming partnership.
“Not much. He’s also doing his thing, we’re doing ours. We’ve talked very little, but when we’re actually at the Games, we’ll talk more about that doubles and, above all, how we’re going to do it.”
None of that is likely to have too much impact on their campaign because they are some of the world’s best players and can adjust quickly. Alcaraz doesn’t have much experience playing doubles, but he’s so skilled that he’ll certainly thrive under Nadal’s leadership.
The 38-year-old is not the best doubles player either, but he will be very motivated and can perform well. His tremendous experience will certainly help, and Alcaraz is excited to tap into that. He confirmed to Mundo Deportivo that he’s simply going to allow Nadal to take the lead and see how it goes.
“I’m not nervous right now. I’m sure I will be when the time comes. And yes, obviously, he’s already experienced this, he already knows what it’s like to play in the Olympics, to win gold in both singles and doubles. I’m new, I’m the rookie here, so I have to keep my mouth shut and just listen to him.”
