Written by Richard Pagliaro | @Itenisi_Manje | Sunday, April 28, 2024
This is Rafael Nadal's place the right-hand man was working overtime in Madrid.
An hour after Nadal knocked Alex de Minaur 7-6(6), 6-3 on Saturday, he was the man who moved us back.
Rafa Nadal: Not Fully Ready for Madrid, Will All Play Paris
The king of clay, a natural righty who plays tennis lefty, spent a long time signing autographs and taking selfies with the crowd of fans.
In his farewell season, Nadal aims to fulfill fans' dreams in a big way this summer.
The king of clay has confirmed that he is ready to play closely Carlos Alcaraz on the Spanish star doubles Dream Team at the Paris Olympics.
Alcaraz has repeatedly said that it would be his “dream” to work with Nadal in these matches. Nadal says that this dream will come true if both men are healthy.
“Carlos, there is no need for him to ask me anything, everything is going well, we will play [Olympic doubles],” Nadal told Iguales, the official Mutua Madrid Open podcast. “It's also very exciting for me. If I'm not mistaken, I heard that from him too.
“So it would be good to play an unusual tournament before the Olympics so we can prepare and get some relationships on the court.”
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Nadal took home the solo gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games defeating Lleyton Hewitt, Igor Andreev, Jurgen Melzer, Novak Djokovic and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in the gold medal match.
Eight years later, Nadal and good friend Marc Lopez won doubles gold at the Rio Olympics, stopping Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in the semifinals before knocking out Florin Mergea Horia Tecau of Romania in the gold medal match.
The Alcaraz-Nadal pairing will be the only men's Olympic doubles duo from now on. Roger Federer again Stan Wawrinka partner for the 2008 Olympic doubles gold medal. The Swiss team had planned a Dream Team reunion featuring Federer and his former Hopman Cup teammate Martina Hingis at the 2016 Games, but that dream team did not compete due to injury.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz said winning gold is his priority this season.
In an interview with the French newspaper Le FigaroAlcaraz reiterated his main goal of the season: Win an Olympic gold medal.
“Grand Slam and Masters 1000 tournaments [events] priorities, but representing your country at the Games is a dream, so winning a gold medal at the Paris Games would be extraordinary and is my main goal for 2024,” Alcaraz told Le Figaro.
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
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