While the Paris Olympics promises an incredible singles tournament with several top clashes to look out for, the doubles event will definitely not lag behind. In fact, there will be no dearth of excitement this time around as several star-studded teams, including the duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, will give it their all to win a medal and bring glory to their country.
However, it is easy for fans to get lost among the giant pool of participants, and we hope this list will guide them as they gear up to experience the Quadrennial tournament.
Rafael Nadal & Carlos Alcaraz
There’s no other team as exciting as the Spanish pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal.
Rafa is inarguably the greatest to ever play at the Roland Garros Stadium. Apart from his 14 singles titles at the French Open (same court where the Olympics will take place), the King of Clay has also experienced how it feels like to win the gold medal in the doubles event of the quadrennial tournament.
On the other hand, Carlos Alcaraz has been allowed to live his childhood dream by being paired up with his idol. Moreover, considering the young Spaniard’s recent run of form, we can confidently say that this duo is the deadliest of them all.
Apart from being the favorites to win a medal, the two are also among the most entertaining players participating across all disciplines.
Cómo debería llamarse esta pareja de dobles? @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/YqWI7LVfg6
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) July 23, 2024
Dan Evans & Andy Murray
Andy Murray recently announced that he would retire after the 2024 Olympics. With the event being his last-ever tennis tournament, the British team of Dan Evans and Murray will have a lot of attention on them.
Murray is entering the contest as the only man in Olympic history to win 2 gold medals at the singles event and will hope to cap off his career with another podium finish, if not the gold.
However, the challenge will be tough since Evans isn’t in the best of form to do the major hard carrying. The 34-year-old has had a forgettable clay-court season, suffering first-round losses in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Lyon, and Paris.
Andy Murray and Dan Evans fine tuning at #Paris2024 #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/PeBHviQwzt
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 23, 2024
Francisco Cerundolo & Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Over the years, Argentines have emerged as great players on the dirt, and with Francisco Cerundolo having gathered a lot of experience from his appearance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the team will be high on confidence.
Standing alongside Cerundolo is Tomas Martin Etcheverry and the duo will hope to strengthen Argentina’s shot at adding a medal to their tally.
Moreover, the two even teamed up for various doubles events in preparation for the Olympic Games, making them the pair, who have spent the most on-court time together.
Taylor Fritz & Tommy Paul
The two highest-ranked Americans recently replicated an impressive record set by Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. However, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul have the opportunity of a lifetime to accomplish something that even US legends could not – finish at the podium in the Olympics doubles event.
This 2024 season, Fritz and Paul have participated in several double events. However, they teamed up together only at the Italian Open 2024, where the duo suffered a first-round loss. Even though they haven’t played doubles on the dirt after that, they will hope to go further in the draw than they did in Rome.
Jannik Sinner & Lorenzo Musetti
Apart from being the favorite to win the singles event, Jannik Sinner will also be expected to make a deep run alongside Lorenzo Musetti in the doubles.
Sinner is primarily a singles player. However, his doubles record at the international level has been impeccable. During the Davis Cup 2023, Sinner had to play the doubles event twice during the knockout stage. At first, Sinner and Sonego defeated the Dutch pairing of Tallon Griekspoor & Wesley Koolhof and then defeated Serbia’s Novak Djokovic-Miomir Kecmanovic duo.
On the other hand, Lorenzo Musetti hasn’t been as successful when playing doubles. Still, he’ll hope to be beneficial for Sinner, who is coming off a historic run to the semifinals of Wimbledon 2024.
They are the #1 seed of the event.
Men’s doubles seeds at the Olympics
1. Sinner/Musetti (1+17)
2. Vavassori/Bolelli (9+10)
3. Krawietz/Puetz (12+12)
4. Fritz/Paul (11+13)
5. Ram/Krajicek (5+21)
6. Salisbury/Skupski (6+25)
7. Molteni/Gonzalez (14+18)
8. Pavic/Mektic (8+26) pic.twitter.com/fklNcJM2xj— Mario Boccardi (@marioboc17) July 23, 2024
Nicolas Jarry & Alejandro Tabilo
Nicholas Jarry and Alejandro Tabilo are certainly one of the underdogs. The left-handed Chileans had a memorable clay-court season in 2024. While Jarry made it to the finals of the Italian Open, Tabilo reached the last four stages of the same tournament.
They will further hope to make history for the South American nation by putting up an impressive display at Roland-Garros.
