Paris Olympics 2024: Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz thrilled the Philippe Chatrier crowd, beating sixth seeds Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina to get their doubles campaign off to a winning start.
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz won their men’s doubles opening round in Paris Olympics (Reuters Photo)
In Short
- Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz win opening round of men’s doubles
- Nadal and Alcaraz dump out sixth seeds Molteni and Gonzalez of Argentina
- Nadal and Alcaraz thrilled the Paris crowd with their on-court chemistry
The much-followed men’s doubles pair of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start to their Paris Olympics campaign, outclassing sixth seeds Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez 7-6 (4), 6-4 in an hour and 47 minutes. Playing doubles for the first time, the King of Clay and his compatriot put on a show for the Philippe-Chatrier crowd at the Stade Roland Garros. Fans were thrilled to see the 14-time French Open champion and the defending champion join hands and deliver the goods for Spain.
The energy levels were at an all-time high at the Chatrier as Nadal and Alcaraz got the chemistry right, showing the doors to sixth seeds Molteni and Gonzalez. The Spaniards were pushed to the tie-breaker in the opening set, but they fought back from behind to put the pressure right back on their Argentine opponents. Nadal and Alcaraz went down 0-3 in the second set, but they bounced back to win six out of the next seven games and close out the match in straight sets. ‘
The packed evening crowd at the biggest clay court arena in the world loved the combination of ‘Nadalcaraz’ as the two Spaniards came up with an exhibition of doubles tennis despite not having played with each other before on the tour.
Nadal and Alcaraz will take on the winner of another first-round match between Netherlands Wesley Koolhoof/Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan.
More to follow.
The much-followed men’s doubles pair of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start to their Paris Olympics campaign, outclassing sixth seeds Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez 7-6 (4), 6-4 in an hour and 47 minutes. Playing doubles for the first time, the King of Clay and his compatriot put on a show for the Philippe-Chatrier crowd at the Stade Roland Garros. Fans were thrilled to see the 14-time French Open champion and the defending champion join hands and deliver the goods for Spain.
The energy levels were at an all-time high at the Chatrier as Nadal and Alcaraz got the chemistry right, showing the doors to sixth seeds Molteni and Gonzalez. The Spaniards were pushed to the tie-breaker in the opening set, but they fought back from behind to put the pressure right back on their Argentine opponents. Nadal and Alcaraz went down 0-3 in the second set, but they bounced back to win six out of the next seven games and close out the match in straight sets. ‘
The packed evening crowd at the biggest clay court arena in the world loved the combination of ‘Nadalcaraz’ as the two Spaniards came up with an exhibition of doubles tennis despite not having played with each other before on the tour.
Nadal and Alcaraz will take on the winner of another first-round match between Netherlands Wesley Koolhoof/Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan.
More to follow.
