Rafael Nadal has expressed his dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the Paris Games, questioning his ability to participate in the opening singles match following his victory in the men’s doubles opener with Carlos Alcaraz.
Nadal and Alcaraz defeated sixth-seeded Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6(4), 6-4, finishing their match close to 10 pm on Saturday night. However, Nadal’s singles first-round match is scheduled for 2 pm on Sunday afternoon.
“A 2:00 p.m. game? I don’t understand the schedule. It seems outrageous to me when I’m playing at two o’clock,” Nadal commented to the media on Saturday evening in Paris.
Nadal, who also sustained a thigh injury in training, played the entire one-hour, 47-minute doubles match with his upper right leg taped but showed no signs of impaired movement.
If Nadal competes in the singles event, he will face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. A win would set up a match against another tennis legend, 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, who defeated Australian Matthew Ebden 6-0, 6-1 in 53 minutes to advance to the second round.
“I don’t know if I’ll play tomorrow. I’ll have to go back to the village and talk to the team. I’ll make the decision that I think is most appropriate to have a chance of getting results for Spain. Sometimes less is more,” said Nadal, a two-time gold medallist (2008 Beijing singles, 2016 Rio doubles).
Nadal and Alcaraz made a strong start to their highly anticipated doubles debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“The match was of the highest level. I think we played well and in the decisive moments, we played with the right determination. The rivals were a very consolidated pair, one of the best in the world. It was a difficult match; we enjoyed it but also suffered at times,” Nadal said about his doubles match with Alcaraz.
Next for the former World No. 1s in the PIF ATP Rankings are either Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof or Hungarians Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan. Fucsovics is also Nadal’s first-round singles opponent.
