Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will form a doubles team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. David Ferrer, the captain of the Spanish men’s squad, formally verified the news on Wednesday during a ceremony at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona. Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Marcel Granollers will all be part of the Spanish team in Paris.
Alcaraz will have to adjust to having a teammate by his side on the court; his experience with doubles is limited. In his professional career, the Murcia native has only played nine team matches, none of which came in the last two seasons. While his fast climb to the top of men’s tennis was fueled by a lack of big-stage experience, adapting to the team discipline will present a new opportunity for El Palmar’s prodigy to demonstrate his ability to learn quickly.
Nadal, for his part, is one of the most Olympic-experienced players on the Tour. The Mallorcan is the only live male player to have won gold medals in both singles and doubles, a fitting legacy at the four-year event for one of the sport’s most iconic players.
The Spaniard won gold in Beijing in 2008, just before reaching world number one for the first time. In Rio de Janeiro 2016, Nadal completed his set by topping the doubles podium with his close buddy Marc Lopez. This is now a feat he hopes to replicate in a few months on the clay of Paris 2024.
The only other Spanish medalists in men’s Olympic doubles are Emilio Sanchez-Vicario and Sergio Casal, who won silver in Seoul in 1988, and Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, who won bronze in Sydney in 2000.
The doubles competition in Paris will include a 32-team draw. Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic are the defending champions, having won the gold medal in Tokyo 2020.
The tennis event will take place on Roland Garros’ clay courts from Saturday, July 27 to Sunday, August 4. It will be the first time the Olympics have been played on clay since Barcelona in 1992.
