American Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish called for Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz to be disqualified at the Paris 2024 Games after their first-round doubles victory.
The Spanish duo lived up to their billing on a packed Court Philippe Chatrier, claiming a 7-6(4) 6-4 win over Argentinians Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Their partnership quickly came together to dispatch the sixth seeds at Roland Garros, even though Nadal was spotted with strapping on his right thigh. The Spaniards quickly showed that they will take some stopping from taking gold, prompting Fish to speak out on their quality.
Fish joked that it was ‘unfair’ for two players of such ability to be able to compete together and immediately strike up the necessary on-court chemistry. “I declare this team as not fair,” Fish wrote on X. “Disqualify them for being too good immediately.
Nadal, who has won 14 titles on the Paris clay and played as many as 116 matches, but had never competed in doubles at Roland Garros – even though he did win Olympic gold eight years ago with Marc Lopez.
Alcaraz is a novice in the format and his inexperience showed early in their contest, dropping serve immediately against Wimbledon quarter-finalists Gonzalez and Molteni, but the Spanish quality was more than enough to see them through.
The 21-year-old even admitted that despite being a reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, he was nervous stepping onto the court to play at the Olympics alongside Nadal.
It wasn’t Rafa himself that was imposing on me, but the situation,” he said. “In the end, seeing the Philippe Chatrier stadium full, playing with Rafa, my first Olympics… It was a moment, I’ll say, that was difficult to deal with the nerves.”
“It was a dream come true, honestly. I dreamed about playing my debut in the Olympic Games, but playing with Rafa, it was even more special. I’m really happy about the level we played, I’m really happy to give us the chance to keep going, to play another round. I think our level is good enough to believe and hopefully keep going.
Nadal, meanwhile, was far from happy at the Olympics scheduling when informed that he would be forced to play at 2pm on Sunday after competing on Saturday evening alongside Alcaraz, where the pair were told they were “too good” and needed to be disqualified.
There had been fears that the 38-year-old would pull out of the singles competition, as he is also nursing a thigh injury, but is set to take on Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
Should Nadal win his opening match he will set up a blockbuster second-round showdown with Novak Djokovic.
