Rafael Nadal’s Paris Games — and, almost certainly, his Olympic career — ended Wednesday night when he and Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to the fourth-seeded American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
The match was played at Court Philippe Chatrier, the same stadium where Nadal has won his record 14 French Open titles, part of his haul of 22 Grand Slam trophies. The full house roared and sang to support Nadal and Alcaraz — well, mainly Nadal — especially as they tried to stave off defeat in the final game.
The 38-year-old Nadal has not announced anything about his plans or possible retirement, but given his age and recent history of injuries, an appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics seems far-fetched. He might not even compete at all beyond the Paris Games, but that is far less clear.
Nadal won gold medals for Spain in singles at Beijing in 2008 and in doubles at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This time around, he was defeated in singles on Monday by rival Novak Djokovic.
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The doubles outcome seemed pretty much decided when Ram smacked a return winner off a serve by Alcaraz to break him at love and lead 4-3 in the second set. The Spaniards thought the ball landed out and bent down to get closer to the clay while arguing their case with French chair umpire Morgane Lara. But the call did not change.
Still, Nadal never has been one to concede a thing, and so it was fitting that he and Alcaraz earned a break point, a chance to extend the evening, as Krajicek tried to serve out the victory. Didn’t happen for the Spaniards, though, and soon Alcaraz and Nadal were hugging on one side of the net — and Ram and Krajicek were doing the same on the other.
After collecting his equipment from the sideline, Nadal walked off the court. He paused to look around the place that has meant so much to him during his time in tennis and to wave to the spectators, who were bidding adieu with the latest in a series of standing ovations for him during these Olympics.
Nadal paused for a moment before stepping through the doorway that leads toward the locker room, and Alcaraz placed his right hand on his partner’s left shoulder.
Nadal and Alcaraz are not frequent doubles players — indeed, this was their first event as a pair.
They do, however, own a combined 26 Grand Slam singles titles. Alcaraz has four, including this year’s French Open in June, then Wimbledon in July.
Ram and Krajicek are far more accomplished in doubles. Both have been ranked No. 1. Ram has collected four Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles with another partner and Krajicek one.
They also had pretty decent coaching advice Wednesday night: Sitting in the stands were Bob and Mike Bryan, the American twins who earned 16 Grand Slam doubles championships and an Olympic gold medal in men’s doubles at the 2012 London Games. Bob is the captain of the U.S. men’s tennis squad in Paris.
All four players on court were wearing red shirts. All four could be heard communicating over the hush that enveloped the stands shortly before points began. During some points, the Americans’ yells of “You! You!” were clearly audible.
After points — especially those won by Nadal and Alcaraz — it got loud under the retractable roof shut because of rain. Really loud. There were chants of “Ra-fa!” and chants for his country — “Es-pa-ña!” — occasionally answered by far less vociferous shouts of “U-S-A!”
Nadal is as popular a player who ever has competed at Roland Garros. So popular that there is a steel statue of him that stands just outside Chatrier.
It was in that arena that he was handed those 14 French Open trophies. And in that arena that he lost to rival Djokovic on Monday.
No one, perhaps not even Nadal, knows whether he ever will be back there to play again.
