‘Nadalcaraz’ Olympic run ended by Ram and Krajicek in quarter-finals
The American duo beat Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics to move into the last four of the men’s doubles event
Nadal and Alcaraz, Paris Olympics, 2024 © DPPI / Panoramic
Another day at the 2024 Paris Olympics, another blockbuster billing of the inter-generational men’s doubles super-team at Roland-Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal have ignited this summer’s men’s doubles tennis event with their high-octane approach and big-name pedigree.
This time, however, the Spanish fire was extinguished by the hard reality of a highly experienced specialised doubles team, as the American pairing of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram surgically took apart their opponents’ weaknesses.
This match was perfect representation of the fact that doubles tennis is about much more than merely the sum of a team’s two parts.
Krajicek and Ram were superb throughout, perfectly complimenting each other’s game styles while communicating on a level that required only the briefest exchanges between points at the baseline. Ram is a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion, while Krajicek won the French Open doubles title last year.
The pair’s instinctive understanding of the dimensions of a doubles court was evident from start to finish, as they outplayed and outmanoeuvred their star-studded opposition in hugely impressive fashion.
Despite the din of support coming the way of the affectionately nicknamed ‘Nadalcaraz’, the American duo remained the most level-headed people inside Court Philippe-Chatrier as they earned a brilliant victory that will be etched into the sporting history books.
a one-sided contest undiminished for drama
The match itself was, frankly, one-sided in the end. But this did little to detract from the continued drama that is the sheer spectacle of witnessing Nadal and Alcaraz teaming up in the Olympic Games.
As in their previous two rounds, the Spaniards enjoyed a huge majority of vociferous support inside Chatrier. Their high-energy, often dazzling style was also still on show, albeit with too many unforced errors against a much higher calibre of opposition.
The start of the opening stanza set the tone for the remainder of the contest, as the Americans broke in the very first game.
Despite some good play from the Spanish duet, Ram and Krajicek then struck again in the seventh game as just reward for their consistent pressure. They proceeded to serve out the opener, saving a break point en route, to move into a one-set lead and puncture some of the delirium that had been rippling around the stadium.
Enter the second set, and the Spaniards appeared to have found their footing with three solid holds to make it a close contest. That is, until a sucker-punch break in the seventh game left the partisan Chatrier crowd somewhat stunned as their much-loved protagonists now faced a mountain to climb if they were to avoid elimination.
Sadly for Nadal and Alcaraz, though, there is no antidote to such clinical professionalism that was on show from their opponents. A thrilling final game – in which the Spanish pair had three break point opportunities and saved a match point – ultimately went the way of the more established doubles duo, as they deservedly reached the semi-finals.
uncertainty for nadal, while alcaraz turns attention solely to singles
The American pairing will face Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic in that last-four match, as the men’s doubles event begins to reach the business end of the competition.
Alcaraz can find consolation in the fact that he is still the favourite to win the gold medal in the men’s singles, where he is already through to the quarter-finals.
For Nadal, meanwhile, the next steps in one of the greatest careers this sport has ever paid witness to remain to be seen. The 22-time Grand Slam champion revealed earlier in the season that he would not make any concrete plans past the Olympics, and would make a decision on his future after that point based on his physical state and his hunger to continue.
A recent appearance on the US Open entry list, coupled with his passionate and full-throttle physical displays here in Paris, would imply that this is not quite yet the end of the road for Nadal.
Whatever the next few weeks and months have in store for both these players, however, they have made an unforgettable contribution to the 2024 Olympic Games with the wildly enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining ride that has been ‘Nadalcaraz’.
For now, though, and definitively for Paris 2024, it is a ride that, sadly, has come to its end.
