Rafa Nadal’s first big goodbye: end of Olympic career after losing to Alcaraz in doubles

A hug closes an era. Rafa Nadal embraces Carlos Alcaraz when the Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram beat them in the quarterfinals of the Paris Games by 6-2 and 6-4 in 1h 38m. At 38 years of age, the Balearic player leaves his Olympic career behind. There will be no more Villa, no more parade, no more summer battles on the court. It is the first big goodbye for the champion of 22 Grand Slams, who is hesitating to extend his career, as long as his body allows it. There will be no more Games, and the last dance has been with his heir Alcaraz.

The pair discover that a wall is raised the second they come in front of them. Krajicek and Ram climb the lines and attack the net with a ferocity that surprises Nadal and Alcaraz. The Americans, fourth seeds, are a wall that returns everything, very fast, synchronized. The points fly and the Balearic player gives up his serve. The clash against the specialists requires fine-tuning the strategy, perfecting the tactics. It is necessary to increase the offensive flow along with the tape and vary the script of the plays because in the exchange of short rallies the Americans rule, more accustomed to reduced spaces and more varied in automatic movements. Krajicek and Ram seem like a single player who doubles up, an eight-armed octopus.

It is difficult to find gaps in the concrete, and it is not a question of strength, as the Spaniards sometimes insist. There is a rush and that does not allow the ball to be lowered to the ground and intelligence to change the dynamic. The Americans dance more than play because they repeat their movements by heart, an impossible imitation for the Nadalcaraz pair, who have just met in the doubles. Krajicek and Ram know how and where to position their bodies and rackets to face the cannon shots that come at them from the other side of the court. The Americans repeat the break in the seventh game, helped by two double faults in a row by Alcaraz, and close the first set on serve 6-2.

It’s a steep climb for a team that has just been born. Nadal at least gets off to a comfortable start in the second set. The Spaniards are inferior at cooking points quickly, they don’t have as many tools. And his rivals don’t let things drag on for too long. They attack the spaces at a very high pace, and Alcaraz makes a few mistakes. The Murcian is not as used to such vertigo, compared to Nadal and the doubles players (he had only played six matches in this format in his entire career up to this Olympic event). At the back of the court, the two-time Grand Slam winner this year suffers more than usual. Oxygen runs out sooner.

Resisting the serve. This is the nail that the Spanish pair cling to. When Nadal exchanges a cross-court rally with Ram, the match returns to one against one, and then the Spaniard brings out his veteran weapons to provoke an error from his opponent, who has the greatest musketeer from Paris in front of him. This is how the second set progresses, each duo strong when they have the initiative. It is Nadal who takes a step forward, and this time he hits a long, parallel forehand, to the corner, and that livens up the centre court, a sauna. It is Alcaraz who hesitates, and his ball hits the tape and is at the mercy of Krajicek, and in the next point Ram adjusts so much to the line that the chair umpire comes down and has a good time chatting with the Spaniards, arguing about a millimetre here or there. The point falls and the game goes to the Americans, once again in command.

Neither Nadal nor Alcaraz understand surrenders separately, nor together. They row, suffer, sweat to earn an opportunity, to open a door. Krajicek and Ram have 5-4 and serve. The former trembles and starts with a double fault, Chatrier on fire, it is clear which side she is singing for. Nadal returns with his soul, and it is 15-30. He does not want to say goodbye. Alcaraz returns to the gap, and it is 15-40. He does not want the story to end either. The center does not shut up. The Americans come back, and waste a match point. Not the second one anymore. It is 6-4.

Alcaraz closes a marathon. In the morning he beat Roman Safiullin 6-4 and 6-2 in 1h 30m and will face Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals of the singles draw on Thursday. Nadal closes an era, a wonderful Olympic adventure.

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