It took Rafael Nadal less than a day, more precisely nineteen hours and fifty six minutes, to switch the torch for a tennis racket and make his Olympics debut in an exciting doubles with Carlos Alcaraz. The king and his successor, together at Roland Garros, the temple of clay. What could go wrong?
But if anyone believed that Day 1 was going to be as comfortable as his boat ride in the Seine, the match quickly showed that it wasn’t an easy one. The Argentinians Maximo Gonzalez (who turned 41 a week ago) and Andres Molteni put some heavy pressure in the first set, which ended up 7-6 for Nadal-Alcaraz (7-4 in the tiebreak). The Spaniards then recovered from a 0-3 start in the second set and swept all resistance to end winning 6-4. A convincing victory of a game that came too early in the calendar. The packed Philippe Chatrier experienced some moments of tension, high-class tennis and standing ovations. It couldn’t have happened in an easy match against easy opponents.
FATHER RAFA The competitive animal that Nadal carries inside had to make room for a more fatherly figure, an enjoyable facet of the multichampion of an individual sport. As a team player, Rafa acts with even more attention at difficult moments. When they were losing, he would celebrate every important point he won by immediately running towards his team-mate, as he kept giving confidence to him. From 0-40 to 40-40 in the first set, to avoid a critical break, or from 0-3 to 4-3 in the second set, Rafa showed the way and Carlos followed.
Talking to AIPS and the rest of the press, Alcaraz admitted that he felt the tension of the debut with the giant. “It was not that I couldn’t find myself, but the nerves of the debut were there, and Rafa was important to help me adjust”. In fact, there was a key point, when Alcaraz chose not to hit back and instead let the ball go out, but it went out for a couple of centimetres. Nadal approached with a smile, his gesture of “how lucky you were” made Alcaraz laugh. That point put Alcaraz in a different state of mind. Still, it was Rafa who made the two crucial points of the tie-break, an impossible volley for 6-4 and then a devastating winner for the 7-4 and first set. Nadal made his Olympic debut in Athens 2004, playing in doubles with Carlos Moya, who was now watching from the stands. The virtuous circle carried on, now with Rafa launching Carlos for the next two decades of glory.
LEGEND Among the 15,000 spectators, one received a standing ovation before the start – Billie Jean King. She then was seen amazed by one Nadal elastic backhand volley that won the point in which he had served and taken five consecutive shots. It was Nadal against Argentina. People would stand up and clap furiously. The love for Nadal transcends borders and nationalities. He is, perhaps, the most French athlete from abroad, one that is close to his finish line. But not just yet. “I’d like to thank all the French people and the organisers for the invitation to carry the torch. It is an unforgettable moment that I will treasure forever,” Nadal said in a mixed zone that almost collapsed with dozens of journalists trying to approach. “Careful, careful,” he said, as the fence kept wobbling back and forth, just like a boat on the Seine.
Next to him, smiling and unnoticed, Alcaraz kept moving his fingers alongside a special pair of plastic glasses he had been given – they were Olympic rings glasses. Just like a son playing with his new toy next to his father, those glasses also say precisely where his sight is set.
Credit: AIPS Media
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