Paris 2024 Olympics: Nadal and Alcaraz crash out in doubles after quarter-finals defeat
Rafael Nadal and partner Carlos Alcaraz have been booted out of the male doubles quarter-final ties in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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The Spanish pair were beaten in straight sets by American doubles specialists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, the fourth seeds at Paris 2024. The match ended 6-2 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
They were roared on by a partisan crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but the Spanish pair were ultimately beaten by the American doubles specialists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in straight sets.
Krajicek and Ram, the fourth seeds in the doubles' draw, overcame the all-star duo 6-2 6-4 under the lights and they will face Czech pair Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek in the semi-finals.
Nadal and Alcaraz announced that they would partner in the men's doubles in Paris back in June, and when the draw was made last week, it seemed that two storylines could possibly reach their conclusions in the final, with the Spanish pair potentially coming up against British duo of Dan Evans and Andy Murray.
Murray is set to retire after the Olympics, and Nadal has hinted the same, but has not confirmed it completely.
That blockbuster final showdown will have to live on in the imagination as the Spaniards were given a harsh lesson in the differences between singles and doubles.
Nadal and Alcaraz have 26 Grand Slam titles between them on the singles circuit, while Krajicek and Ram boast five on the doubles tour.
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But those figures played no part in proceedings here, with the doubles specialists well and truly on top for the majority of the evening.
The unseeded Spaniards were broken off the bat in the opening game, with the Americans converting their second break point opportunity, and they refused to let up after that, consolidating their advantage with strong holds, before doubling down with another break of serve at 5-2.
They closed out the opener expertly, saving a break point at 30-40 before finishing it off with their first set point.
'Nadalcaraz' were more assured in the second set, putting into practice their patterns of play well, with both men pulling out some extraordinary shots and reflex volleys, but they were breached at 4-3 by the persistent Ram and Krajicek, who broke them to love and never looked back.
There was a point of contention on the break point at 3-3 in the second, as Alcaraz watched a Ram inside-out forehand return out, but the umpire was down quickly to correct the call and award the point to the fourth seeds, giving them a crucial break of serve and prompting bewildered complaints from Nadal and Alcaraz, who gestured profusely, with Nadal wagging his finger at the umpire on his way to the changeover.
The Spaniards' protests would be in vain, however, as they were eked out by true specialists of the doubles discipline - as the American pair held firm under huge pressure in the final game as the crowd continued to roar on their favourites.
Nadal and Alcaraz had three break point opportunites that all went awry, and Krajicek's sliced serve out wide caught the line, according to the umpire, acing Alcaraz in the process and potentially ending Nadal's 23-year career.