French Open champion Rafael Nadal’s quest for Olympic glory in Paris faces a significant setback. After reaching the quarterfinals at the Mutua Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz faced the press. While basking in his recent success, the media couldn’t resist the opportunity to delve into a highly anticipated – and potentially complicated – dream doubles pairing with Nadal at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

In a recent interview with Puntodebreak, rising star Carlos Alcaraz, a close confidante of Nadal, sheds light on the challenges threatening to derail Nadal’s dream. “We talked a little about that, that it would be great to play a tournament before the Olympic Games, but it’s going to be difficult,” he stated.

Alcaraz highlighted how it’s not easy to directly jump on to playing the Olympics, looking at the current scenario and the tournaments they are surrounded by. Along with that, the two-time Grand Slam champion also emphasized the fact that they might not be in the best physical condition, after participating in the French Open and the other ATP tournaments.

“On land the next tournament will be Rome and then Roland Garros. Both tournaments are really important for We are in singles and we are not going to arrive in the best physical condition. So it will be difficult to play a tournament before the Games, but it could be great as I have said many times, if everything goes well, we are going to play doubles there. But until that arrives we have many weeks before,” he added.

Notably, the two athletes had already squared off in an exhibition battle, “The Netflix Slam,” that took place in Las Vegas, USA. This friendly match ended with Alcaraz winning, right before the Indian Wells competition.

This all started last year, when the young Spaniard, after winning Wimbledon, shared his dream of playing a doubles match with Nadal. “It would be a dream. Not only to win a medal at singles or doubles, but just to live the experience of playing a doubles with your idol, would be a memory that I would keep with special affection.”

However, with the way both of them are competing on the court, it won’t be wrong to say, that before the doubles dream can come true, there are a lot of hurdles that both of them need to overcome. Subsequently, even Nadal talked about the double possibility with excitement.

Nadal feels optimistic about his ideal doubles partnership with Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, is excited about the possibility of competing alongside a fellow Spaniard in Paris this year in an attempt to win a medal at the Olympics. The 22-time Grand Slam champion said, “Carlos doesn’t have to ask me anything, all things being well, we’ll play. It’s also hugely exciting for me. If I’m not mistaken, I’ve heard it is for him too.”

The Spanish legend is determined to win a third Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer, despite the difficulties. He has already won gold in the singles competition in Beijing in 2008 and in the doubles competition in Rio eight years later. What are your thoughts on the dream Olympic pair? Do let us know in the comment section below.