Rafael Nadal hopes to impress everyone at the Paris Olympics, which will begin in about three weeks on the red clay of the French Open. The Spanish champion skipped the 2024 Wimbledon Championships to prepare for the Olympics, which are played on a surface much more suited to his characteristics.
The former world number 1 played good tennis at the French Open, but was eliminated already in the first round by a great Alexander Zverev. During the press conference, the 22-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he felt physically better than a few months ago and did not rule out that his career could continue even further this year.
The body has not been kind to Rafa for the past two years, preventing him from playing as much as he would have liked and also forcing him to a surgical operation. Nadal wasn’t even going back on the court, but the situation has improved recently and the Spaniard will play the ATP in Bastad before the Paris Olympics.
Rafa Nadal is still motivated
In Bastad Rafa will play both the singles and the doubles, along with the Norwegian Casper Ruud. Nadal’s goal is to find rhythm and refine the condition ahead of the Olympic tournament, in which he will have to pay close attention to Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
The Spaniard has already arrived in Bastad and was welcomed together with his wife Francisca Perello and his son by the organizers of the tournament. The big favourite for the victory at Bastad should have been the Italian Jannik Sinner, who announced his forfeit in the last hours after being beaten by Daniil Medvedev at the Wimbledon Championships.
Rafa will use this tournament as preparation for the Paris Olympics, where he will be one of the most anticipated athletes ever. Nadal will represent Spain alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Pedro Martinez and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, while doubles pairs will be Marcel Granollers/Pablo Carreno Busta and Alcaraz/Nadal.
Rafa wants a medal
Fans and experts wonder if Rafa has any chance of winning a medal at the Olympics, the second after the gold medal won in Beijing in 2008. The former world number 1 has shown progress in recent tournaments played, but still seems far from the current top players. The Spaniard struggled to maintain the intensity throughout the match and made more unforced errors than usual with the forehand.
Recently, Novak Djokovic praised Rafa’s ability to evolve his game over the years: “I actually think that he improved his backhand as he was getting older. He was probably conscious of physical struggles that he had and he had to be more aggressive on the court. He was still topspinning the forehand better than anybody has ever done it and he still kept that incredible defence and offence on the forehand. But I think with the backhand, he was just able to handle the high balls better than he was maybe at the beginning of our encounters.”
If he gets a good result in Paris, Nadal may decide to extend his career. “I feel like I’m finding the pleasure of playing again, having fun. I want to give myself a chance to see if my physique remains at this level or if it is only a temporary moment and that it starts to go wrong again. I give myself time to see how I will feel after the Olympic Games, and then we will see what will happen, what decisions I will make” – The Spaniard explained.
Rafa has a better chance of winning a doubles medal along with fellow countryman Carlos Alcaraz, who won the French Open this year and is in the semi-finals at the Wimbledon Championships. ”We could have the chance to form a great team and aspire to great things,” Nadal stated of the partnership. “It would be good for both of us. It would also be good for the Spanish team, so we’ll see how things progress” – he added.
Nadal and Alcaraz will be the main attraction of the Olympic tournament and fans hope they can get far in the tournament. As for the singles, Rafa needs a favorable draw in the early rounds and must hope to find rhythm as the days go by. At present, winning a medal seems like a chimera for him even if the tournament is played on his favorite surface.
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, the Spaniard won gold in doubles with Marc Lopez, while in singles he was defeated by Juan Martin del Potro. The 22-time Grand Slam champion missed the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 because of COVID).
