Rafael Nadal is to miss Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympic Games, where he will form a dream doubles partnership with Carlos Alcaraz.
The expected news was confirmed by Spain’s Olympic team captain, David Ferrer, on Wednesday, with Nadal having said last month that it would not be good for his body to switch surfaces from clay to grass.
With Nadal expected to retire at some point this year, it appears his final match at Wimbledon will be a quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz in 2022, after which he withdrew from the tournament because of an abdominal injury.
Alcaraz, who will make his Olympic debut in Paris, said last summer it would be a dream to play with Nadal in what is likely to be one of the final events of his career.
The 38-year-old made the French Open and Olympics his priorities after returning from a year out with hip problems. He lost in the first round of the singles at Roland Garros last month against the eventual finalist Alexander Zverev but will have another chance on the Paris clay, with the Olympic tennis being held at the same venue. As well as winning the French Open 14 times, Nadal has two Olympic gold medals to his name, in singles in Beijing in 2008 and in doubles with Marc López in Rio eight years ago.
Nadal and Alcaraz have never played together in a match before, with the younger player very inexperienced in doubles, but they are sure to be one of the biggest draws of the event. Alcaraz will go into the singles tournament as arguably the favourite for gold having just won his third grand slam title at Roland Garros.
“One pair, which I think everyone knows and was hoping for is Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal and the second pair is yet to be decided, it hasn’t been 100% confirmed yet,” Ferrer said. “We’ll wait a bit before announcing that. But Rafa and Carlos will be playing together in Paris.”
The other players selected are Pablo Carreno Busta and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina while Marcel Granollers, world No 2 in doubles, is also in the squad. The Paris Olympics run from 26 July until 11 August.
Andy Murray, meanwhile, may opt out of challenging for a third Olympic gold medal in Paris if he is not selected to play in the doubles tournament. The three-time grand slam title winner and twice Olympic champion is eligible to compete in the singles at the Games with two places reserved for players who have won a grand slam or Olympics tournament.
However, Murray could miss out on the doubles at Paris with Britain poised to send Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski instead. “I need to see what happens with the Olympics,” Murray said after his 6-3, 6-4 defeat against Marcos Giron at the Stuttgart Open on Tuesday.
“I’m not 100% sure what the situation is there with the doubles yet and whether or not I will play if I just get in the singles. I don’t know. My body didn’t feel great playing on the clay in the last month or so. I had quite a few issues with my back, so I don’t know if I would go just for singles. I need to wait a little bit and see on that.” Murray lost in the first round of the French Open doubles alongside Daniel Evans.
The tennis tournament at the Olympics will take place at Roland Garros from 27 July to 4 August.
Jack Draper succeeded on Wednesday where Murray could not by defeating Giron 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to reach the Stuttgart quarter‑finals. Draper took the first set 6-4 after 31 minutes, but his American opponent regrouped for the second set. Draper soon raced into a 3-0 lead in the deciding set, making full use of coming to the net. Although Giron, the world No 54, continued to battle on, Draper clinched victory with a superb backhand to complete his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win.
“I thought I played a really good first set and then he came back really strong,” Draper said. “I had a little blip in concentration, but then came out in the third set really strong and was really happy with the way I was able to come through the match. He beat Andy Murray yesterday, who is obviously and incredible player and I knew he had such a high level.”
Draper, who has now edged ahead of Cameron Norrie for the British No 1 ranking in the live standings, will play Frances Tiafoe in the last eight.
Katie Boulter sustained her bid for a second successive title at her home event at the Nottingham Open, breezing into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Rebecca Marino.
Boulter, from nearby Leicester, used to train at the Nottingham Tennis Centre so is revelling in being able to play her best tennis here. “I have some of my childhood memories here so I always get that warm fuzzy feeling every time I come out here,” she said. “Just being back where it started reminds me how far I have come and I just keep working hard every day and see what happens.”
Heather Watson could not join her compatriot in the last eight, beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the 2016 champion Karolina Pliskova. Watson competed well against the sixth seed but went down 6-4, 6-4.