In Pictures: Rafael Nadal all smiles as he arrives at Paris 2024 Olympic Village ahead of highly anticipated final campaign

Rafael Nadal has reached the 2024 Paris Olympic Village. He also took the time to pose for pictures with fellow athletes Lucas Toscani and Guillermo Lijtenstein there.

Nadal will be entering the Games, where tennis will be played on the clay courts at Roland Garros, on the back of a runner-up finish at the 2024 Nordea Open. He was a wildcard at the tournament and had begun his campaign by defeating wildcard Leo Borg in the first round, followed by a victory over fifth seed Cameron Norrie in the second round.

The Spaniard then overcame fourth seed Mariano Navone in the quarterfinals and Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in the semifinals of the ATP 250 clay-court event in Bastad, Sweden. However, the former World No.1 fell to seventh seed Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-2 in the summit clash.

The 38-year-old will be representing Spain at the Olympic Games alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Pedro Martinez, Jaume Munar, Pablo Carreno Busta, Marcel Granollers, Cristina Bucsa, and Sara Sorribes Tormo. The 22-time Grand Slam champion will compete in both the singles as well as the doubles event, where he will be partnering with Alcaraz.

Recently, former tennis player and sprinter from San Marino, Christian Forcellini, shared a series of pictures on social media featuring Rafael Nadal and Spain's Olympic team captain David Ferrer at the Paris Olympic Village. The Village spans across three cities - Saint-Denis, Saint Ouen, and LÎle-Saint-Denis and is currently accommodating 14,250 athletes for the Games.

"At the Olympic village, someone I know is coming.... @rafaelnadal @davidferrer1982," Forcellini captioned his Instagram post.

Additionally, Argentine field hockey player Lucas Toscani and Uruguayan rugby player Guillermo Lijtenstein also shared photos with the 22-time Grand Slam champion at the Olympic Village.

"What a monster," Toscani captioned his Instagram story.

Screen grab of Lucas Toscani & Guillermo Lijtenstein's Instagram stories

Rafael Nadal: "Looking forward to being part of the Olympic team and representing Spain"

Rafael Nadal

While talking to the press after his final match at the 2024 Nordea Open, Rafael Nadal stated that he was looking forward to representing Spain at the 2024 Paris Olympics and being a part of the Olympic team.

"I'm really looking forward to being part of the Olympic team and representing Spain. This is the most important event in sport, I hope I can find the energy I need and do good training," he said [via Punto de Break].

The Spaniard, who will play both the singles and doubles event at the Games, stated that he knows that if he performs well in the singles then he will also play well in the doubles event alongside Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz is entering the Paris Olympics on the back of two consecutive Grand Slam title wins, the 2024 French Open and the Wimbledon Championships.

"I know that if I can play good tennis on an individual level, I'll do well in doubles too, but I have to analyze what happened this week and work hard. I'm convinced that Carlos Alcaraz will be at a great level because he's coming in with confidence. We'll train together this week," he added.

Rafael Nadal will be making his fourth appearance at the Olympics in Paris. He is the only active player to have secured gold medals in both categories, having won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the doubles gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics alongside Marc Lopez.