Rafael Nadal rode a wave of crowd support to keep his quest for a third Olympic gold medal alive on Tuesday, partnering with Carlos Alcaraz to reach the men’s doubles quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
The Spanish duo, affectionately nicknamed “Nadalcaraz,” narrowly defeated the Dutch team of Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof in their second-round encounter, overcoming the sweltering heat to win 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 10-2.
A packed crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen made their allegiance clear, frequently chanting, “Let’s go Rafa, let’s go.”
Nadal, 38, who had been ousted from the singles competition by Novak Djokovic on Monday, returned to the court alongside his 21-year-old teammate to enthusiastic applause from the fans.
The Spaniards consistently put pressure on their opponents’ serve in the first set, finally breaking in the seventh game when Alcaraz fired a cross-court forehand winner.
French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz served out the set, which the Spaniards won 6-4 in 54 minutes.
Despite wearing strapping on his right thigh, Nadal, a left-hander, appeared unaffected, displaying agile play at the net alongside his signature powerful forehands.
Both teams squandered break opportunities towards the end of a closely contested second set, with the Dutch pair dominating the tie-break to level the match.
However, Nadal and Alcaraz dominated the match tie-break, quickly taking a 5-0 lead and ultimately winning 10-2 after two hours and 22 minutes.
The Spanish team will face the US fourth seeds, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, in the quarter-finals.
Nadal, who has been plagued by injuries, is competing in only his seventh tournament of 2024, a year in which his ranking has fallen to 161. He is aiming for his third Olympic title, following his 2008 singles victory and doubles triumph in 2016.