Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz have become the talk of the tennis world with their latest performance in the doubles event of the 2024 Olympics. The Spanish dream team put up an impressive display and clinched a 7-6, 6-4 win over Argentina’s Gonzalez Maximo and Molteni Andres.
Throughout the 1-hour 47-minute bout, Nadal and Alcaraz produced several memorable moments for fans to gush over. Interestingly, one such moment came during a break in the match when the Grand Slam winners were resting on their bench.
Rafa is known for having numerous on-court rituals which he follows religiously. One of these is a specific way of placing his water bottles next to his bench. However, Alcaraz hasn’t developed any such habit as of yet, and his bottle placement didn’t have any pattern to it.
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A photo depicting this difference soon went viral on social media, drawing interesting reactions from people worldwide. While some claimed that the two balanced each other out, others believed that the youngster would soon be influenced by Rafa’s habits.
Moreover, Alcaraz is also quite active on social media and there is a possibility that he has already come across the picture and will aim to surprise fans by copying Nadal’s bottle placement in their next match.
Well, all bottle placements aside, Nadal and Alcaraz are setting the court on fire much to the delight of tennis enthusiasts worldwide.
‘Nadalcaraz’ begins doubles campaign on a promising note
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are not among the seeded teams in the draw. However, sharing 16 French Open titles between them, the two are one of the favorites to win the gold.
Their performance in the first round was also quite impressive despite being tested by the #6 seed. Although the two were forced to a tie-break in the first set, they soon came back in the second before winning the match.
INTO THE LAST 16!
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal start their #Paris2024 doubles campaign with a great win over Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez, 7-6(4), 6-4.
They looked great and will only get better! pic.twitter.com/jnh0RXiAoS
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 27, 2024
The dynamic duo will now continue their campaign in the second round against the winner of the Tallon Griekspoor-Wesley Koolhof vs Marton Fucsovics-Fabian Marozsan matchup.