Carlos Alcaraz recently gave his thoughts on the scheduling surrounding his quarterfinal clash against Tommy Paul at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Spaniard, who finished his last doubles match partnering Rafael Nadal around 9:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday (July 31), will continue his medal bid on Thursday.
According to Thursday’s order of play, Alcaraz will begin his last-eight match at noon. The Spaniard’s on-court outing the day prior ended in disappointment, as he and Nadal crashed out 2-6, 4-6 to USA’s Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles competition at the Games.
Carlos Alcaraz is yet to drop a single set in his men’s singles campaign. That said, it remains to be seen whether he will be sharp in his next match. The 21-year-old spoke to Marca about the scheduling on Wednesday.
“You have to accept things as they come,” Carlos Alcaraz told Marca on Wednesday. “I don’t know why they gave me that time, I don’t know if it’s because there’s someone who has to play two matches.”
The second seed also expressed dismay at exiting the men’s doubles draw at the Paris Olympics, before conceding in the same breath that it was a “wonderful experience” to team up with his childhood idol Rafael Nadal.
“I am a little disappointed by the fact that we will not continue competing together, that this beautiful story has ended here,” he said. “It has been a wonderful experience with unforgettable moments. My childhood dream of playing with Rafa, of learning from him closely, has come true. We will try to focus on the positive things and the truth is that it has been a wonderful experience.”
Carlos Alcaraz discloses locker-room chat with Rafael Nadal: “We talked a little about the match, what we did wrong and what we should’ve done”
During the interaction with Marca, Carlos Alcaraz also revealed that he and Rafael Nadal had dissected their performance in the men’s doubles quarterfinal after returning to the locker room.
“We talked a little about the match, about what we did wrong and what we should have done. In the end we are not used to playing doubles and we were very aware of our opponents,” Carlos Alcaraz said. “When you don’t focus on your game and you focus more on where they are going to position themselves or if they are moving, you doubt a lot more.”
Alcaraz leads Paul by a margin of 3-2 in their head-to-head meetings. The men’s singles quarterfinal match will mark the two players’ first claycourt encounter.
Whoever comes out on top, will take on either sixth seed Casper Ruud or 13th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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Edited by Neelabhra Roy
