afael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are getting the hang of this doubles thing, improving to 2-0 as a team at the Paris Olympics and moving into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 10-2 match tiebreaker victory over Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands on Tuesday night.
Playing a day after Nadal’s singles loss to rival Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz’s win against Griekspoor, the old-and-young Spanish duo, wearing polo shirts in slightly different shades of red, didn’t look like a pairing that never had played together until this event.
As has been the case throughout tennis at this Summer Games, the attention was fully on the 38-year-old Nadal, owner of 22 Grand Slam titles and two gold medals, and the 21-year-old Alcaraz, whose major trophy total already is at four, including from the French Open last month and Wimbledon this month.
Nadal – whose wife and 1 1/2-year-old son, Rafael Jr., were in the stands – and Alcaraz will face the fourth-seeded American team of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram for a semifinal berth. Krajicek and Ram beat Thiago Monteiro and Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday.
In the scorching morning, more than six hours before this doubles match began, fans crowded into tiny Court 3 a short walk away for a practice session with Nadal at one baseline and Alcaraz at the other. Some folks waited in lines dozens deep hoping to get in to catch at least a glimpse of the two stars.
Then, in the muggy evening, spectators filled every seat at 10,000-capacity Court Suzanne Lenglen, the second-largest stadium at Roland Garros, the facility being used for Summer Games tennis and also the site of the annual French Open that Nadal has won a record 14 times.
