Rafael Nadal unhappy with Paris Olympics tennis schedule, may miss singles

“A match at 2 p.m.? I don’t understand the schedule. It seems outrageous to me if I play at 2 p.m.,” Nadal told the media in Paris on Saturday night.

Nadal, who also suffered a thigh injury in training, played the entire hour and 47-minute match with his right thigh taped, but the left-handed thrower showed no signs of restricted movement.

If Nadal does play in the singles, he will also face Hungary’s Fucsovics. A win would set up a match-up with another tennis great, 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, who beat Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-0, 6-1 in 53 minutes to reach the second round.

“I don’t know if I will play tomorrow. I will have to go back to the village and talk to the team, I will make the decision that I think is most appropriate to have a chance of results for Spain. Sometimes less is more,” said Nadal, a two-time gold medalist (2008 Beijing singles, 2016 Rio doubles).

Alcaraz and Nadal made a great start to their long-awaited doubles debut at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Saturday.

“The match was of the highest level. I think we played well and in the decisive moments we played with the right determination. The match was of the highest level, the rivals were a very consolidated pair, one of the best in the world. It was a difficult match, we enjoyed it but sometimes we suffered,” Nadal said about his doubles match with Alcaraz.

The next opponents for the pair of former world number 1s in the PIF ATP rankings are the Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof or the Hungarians Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan. Fucsovics is Nadal’s opponent in the first round of the singles.

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