PARIS-. The king of clay and his successor sealed their new partnership with a triumph in the Olympic Games from Paris.
The Spanish Rafael Nadalwith 14 Grand Slam titles on that surface, and his compatriot Carlos Alcarazwho idolized him as a child and is now called to take his place, defeated Argentines Máximo González and Andrés Molteni 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday at the Philippe Chatrier stadium in the first round of the Olympic tournament.
The first joint performance by the Spaniards was the highlight of the day.
No one has shone as brightly on the clay of Paris as Nadal, 38, the most successful player in Roland Garros history. He also has gold medals in singles (2008) and doubles (2016). Alcaraz, 21, is the most recent French Open champion and is playing in his first Olympic Games.
“Playing with Carlos in doubles has been an unforgettable experience for me. I am enjoying every moment,” said Nadal, who has not been given a break by his physical condition in the twilight of his career and has cast doubt on whether he will play against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics on Sunday in the first round. “I will discuss it with my team.”
The triumph came a day after Nadal carried the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
“It was a dream come true,” said Alcaraz. “I was quite nervous at the beginning. The Philippe Chatrier was full, playing with Rafa, first Olympics. It was a difficult moment to deal with. As the match progressed, I managed them better and in the end I was able to play some great tennis.”
But the victory was far from overwhelming.
The Argentines, one of the best pairs on the doubles circuit and who have reached the quarter-finals in four of the last six Grand Slams, were not intimidated by the booing of the French that accompanied their entrance onto the court and took the Spaniards to the tie-break in the first set.
González and Molteni made it 3-0 in the second half. It was then that the Spaniards’ killer instinct came to the fore to take the win, which Alcaraz sealed with a shot into the net. “Come on,” shouted the heir and embraced his idol to a standing ovation from the crowd.
“We played against two champions who are the fans’ favourites. We are Argentines, in France. We laughed because we knew that this was going to happen (because of the whistles) and it happened,” said González. “They are two warriors, they never give up on anything. We had small chances that we didn’t know how to take advantage of and the game slipped away from us.”
“We had never played in this stadium before and the conditions were quite slow because of the rain and the closed roof,” Molteni said. “It gave us a lot of room to play like the singles players do, a lot of baseline play and not going to the net so much. They are two great champions.”
Source: AP
