Rafael Nadal passes on his crown to Carlos Alcaraz in newly unveiled mural in Madrid city

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz were recently commemorated with a mural at a padel court in Madrid.

Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, so it is hardly surprising that he has been eulogized in culture several times before. Interestingly enough, the Spaniard has an asteroid named after him and a statue in homage to his haul of 14 titles at the French Open.

Carlos Alcaraz, on his part, became a top player only two years ago and is yet to be celebrated in the same way his older rival has been. That changed recently, though, as he joined the 22-time Major winner on a wall painting at Frontón de San Fermín, a padel court in Madrid.

The painting was inspired by the picture of Rafael Nadal's warm embrace at the net with the young Spaniard following their quarterfinal clash at the 2022 Madrid Open. The then-teenager defeated his older opponent 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 before winning his second-career ATP Masters 1000 title a few days later.

An interesting detail about the above mural is that Nadal is handing Alcaraz a crown. It makes a lot of sense, considering the five-time Madrid Open winner might be passing the torch to his younger peer, who has already recorded two back-to-back triumphs at the Caja Magica.

That said, the 2023 champion will perhaps have to wait some time to match the 22-time Major winner's success in Madrid. He suffered a shock loss to 7th-seeded Andrey Rublev in the last eight of the tournament earlier on Wednesday (May 1).

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Rafael Nadal on Olympic doubles with Carlos Alcaraz: "I think all things being well, we will play"

The two Spaniards at the 2024 Netflix Slam event

Meanwhile, the prospect of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz representing Spain in the men's doubles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics recently became increasingly realistic.

While the World No. 2 had previously been sheepish in expressing his desire to team up with the 22-time Major winner, the latter had no qualms about joining forces with him later this year.

"We have not talked about it (partnering in men's doubles at Olympics). I have met him these days, in the last tournaments, and the truth is that I have not dared to tell him. I don't know, it's something that would make me very excited, it would be a dream and that's why it forces me," Carlos Alcaraz told MARCA a few weeks ago.

“No, he doesn’t have to ask me anything. I think all things being well, we will play. It’s also hugely exciting for me. If I am not mistaken, I have heard it is from him too," Nadal said during a podcast with the Madrid Open media team last week. "So it would be amazing to play the odd tournament before the Olympics to prepare ourselves to get some rapport on the court."

Rafael Nadal is one of the most successful tennis players in Olympic history. In his two career appearances at the quadrennial event, he won the gold medal in men's singles at the 2008 Beijing Games and men's doubles at the 2016 Rio Games, while also finishing in fourth place in the men's singles in Rio.