Winning a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics has become the top priority for Rafael Nadal, but he has admitted he is not too sure about the pre-tournament plans with Carlos Alcaraz.
Tennis great Nadal is looking for his third gold medal at the Olympics as he won gold in the singles at the 2008 Beijing Games and in the doubles alongside Marc Lopez at the 2016 Rio Games.
There were initially doubts over his participation at this year’s Olympics as he has struggled with injury and has slipped down the rankings, but the 22-time Grand Slam winner has used his protected ranking to enter.
He will feature in only the doubles for Spain alongside rising star Alcaraz and he has entered the Sweden Open as a warm-up event.
However, as things stand he will only play in the singles in Bastad.
“I’m training to try and be ready for singles. I want to play at a high level in singles, and I know that if I can do that, I’ll be able to play at a good level in doubles,” he told L’Equipe.
“That’s what I’ve always done: when I’ve played well in singles, I’ve played well in doubles. It’s true that I haven’t played doubles for a long time, and the ideal thing would have been to play a tournament beforehand, but that wasn’t possible.
“If Carlos is available and I’m physically fit, I think it would be interesting to train together the week before the Olympic tournament.
“The Olympics are a team affair. Doubles are almost as important as singles. It’s an opportunity to try and win a medal. That’s the ultimate goal.”
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The Bastad event, on clay, runs from July 15-21 and it is highly unlikely that Alcaraz will play as Wimbledon takes place from July 1-14 on grass.
The former world No 1 admits Alcaraz finds himself in a tricky situation ahead of the Games due to the hectic schedule.
“It’s more complicated for Carlos than for me. I’m not playing in any tournaments between now and Bastad, while he has a Grand Slam coming up,” Nadal said.
“We’re at different points in our careers. I’ve been in his shoes and I know how a player like Carlos thinks. He has to do what he has to do, and try to win as much as possible.
“And me, I have to do my job, try to prepare myself for what really stimulates me. I’m past the days of trying to win, win, win every week. He’s in there. My job is to try to be ready to reach the best possible level before taking part in a tournament.”