nadal-shakes-hands-with-alcaraz

Rafael Nadal to miss Wimbledon to play with Carlos Alcaraz at the Olympics

Rafael Nadal will skip Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympics. There, he\'ll play an amazing doubles match with Carlos Alcaraz.

Aedam Jo Written by

To be ready for the Olympics, Rafael Nadal will miss Wimbledon. There, he will team up with Carlos Alcaraz in an incredible doubles match.

David Ferrer, the captain of Spain’s Olympic squad, confirmed the anticipated news on Wednesday. Nadal had stated last month that switching from clay to grass would not be beneficial for his physique.

It seems that Nadal’s final Wimbledon match will be a quarterfinal victory over Taylor Fritz in 2022, after which he withdrew from the competition due to an abdominal injury. Nadal is anticipated to retire at some point this year.

In what will probably be his final Olympic competition, Alcaraz stated last summer that playing with Nadal would be a dream. Alcaraz will make his Olympic debut in Paris.

Even though Nadal and Alcaraz have never played together and the younger player has no doubles experience, they are certain to be among the event’s top attractions. Alcaraz, who recently won his third grand slam title at Roland Garros, is perhaps the favourite for gold going into the singles competition.

Ferrer said: “One pair, which I think everyone knows and was hoping for, is Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal and the second pair is yet to be decided; it hasn’t been 100% confirmed yet. We’ll wait a bit before announcing that. But Rafa and Carlos will be playing together in Paris.”

Rafael Nadal in 2024

Now the world no.264, Rafael played his last match on the 27th of May when he was overcome by world no.4 Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 in the 1st round of the French Open (draw).

Until now, during this year Nadal achieved a composed 7-5 record.

Nadal will compete next at the Wimbledon. He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 1st of July.

Carlos Alcaraz in 2024

Ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 9th of June when he defeated world no.4 Alexander Zverev 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 in the final of the French Open to win his 15th career title.

This season the Spaniard achieved a composed 25-5 record. Alcaraz conquered 2 titles in 2024 in Indian Wells and French Open.

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz clashed against each other 3 times. Their actual head to head record is 2-1 for Nadal. Previously, the last time they played each other, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-2 1-6 6-3 in the quarter in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) in May 2022.

Here the video highlights.