admin
PARIS. — Rafael Nadal has yet to decide whether to enter the singles tournament in Paris on Sunday as he aims to maximise his chances of bringing a medal home, he said after winning his first Olympic doubles match with Carlos Alcaraz.
The self-dubbed “Nadalcaraz” team opened their doubles campaign with a 7-6(4) 6-4 defeat of Argentine sixth seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. They produced some spectacular tennis as they were roared to victory by a packed evening crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Despite some injury worries, the 38-year-old Nadal looked sharp as the 14-times French Open champion sealed the opening set with a fierce backhand winner.
The Mallorcan, who has previously won two gold medals in singles, is now considering focusing on doubles.
“We are going to make the decisions that we think are most appropriate as a team to try to have the best chances of bringing medals home for the Spanish team, to try to give ourselves the chances of that happening,” Nadal said.
“Sometimes more is more, sometimes more is less, but with that I’m not saying that I’m not going to play at all,” he added.
Alcaraz, winner of this year’s French Open and Wimbledon titles and the new force in men’s tennis, appeared to be loving life alongside his idol.
“His energy, the way that he handled the difficult moments was unbelievable. And obviously I tried to learn from him,” Alcaraz said. While the Argentines showed experience as a pair, the Spaniards sometimes struggled to find their marks, recording 15 unforced errors in the first set, mainly by Alcaraz, against four for their opponents. — Reuters.
Online Reporter