Rafael Nadal on finding "energy" to perform with Carlos Alcaraz at Paris Olympics: "If I can play good on individual level, I'll do well in doubles"

Rafael Nadal recently talked about how he is preparing to compete alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He said that he was hoping to find his "energy" and train well enough. This will be the Spaniard's third appearance of his career at the quadrennial Games.

Nadal recently had a runner-up finish at the 2024 Nordea Open. He was granted a wildcard entry to the main draw of the ATP 250 clay-court event in Bastad, Sweden, and had kicked off his campaign by defeating wildcard Leo Borg in the first round, then triumphing over fifth seed Cameron Norrie in the second round.

The Spaniard then defeated fourth seed Mariano Navone in the quarterfinals and Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in the semifinals to secure his spot in the final match.

In the summit clash, Nadal was bested by seventh seed Nuno Borges, who claimed victory with a score of 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 28 minutes to earn his first ATP Tour title.

During the post-match press conference, the former World No.1 talked about his participation at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, where he will be representing Spain in both singles and doubles events alongside Alcaraz.

Nadal stated that he is looking forward to representing Spain at the Games and said that he is hoping to find the "energy" he needs for "good training":

"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].

While talking about his upcoming doubles matches with Alcaraz, the 38-year-old stated his belief that doing well individually would translate into a strong performance in the doubles event as well for him:

"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.

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"Rafael Nadal knows what it's like to play in the Olympics, to win a gold in both singles and doubles" - Carlos Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz

In a recent interview with ABC Sports, Carlos Alcaraz, who will be making his Olympics debut this year in Paris, revealed that he and Rafael Nadal will talk and strategize for their doubles matches while training in Paris for the Games.

"We talk very little, but when we're at the Games, we'll talk about that doubles and, above all, how we're going to do it," Carlos Alcaraz said (translated from Spanish).

Alcaraz expressed that he is excited about learning from Nadal, who has extensive experience playing at the Olympics and winning gold medals in both singles and doubles events. The 38-year-old is the only active player to have secured gold medals in both categories. He clinched gold on his singles debut in Beijing in 2008 and the doubles gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics alongside Marc Lopez.

Alcaraz said:

"Obviously, he's already experienced this, he already knows what it's like to play in the Olympics, to win a gold in both singles and doubles. I'm new, I'm the rookie here, so I have to keep my mouth shut and just listen to him."

In addition to Alcaraz and Nadal representing Spain in the doubles event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the pair of Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers will also be representing Spain in the doubles competition.