Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Taron Griekspoor of the Netherlands and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands, during the men’s doubles second round tennis match at Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros stadium during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
Paris –Rafael Nadal reached the men’s doubles quarterfinals with teammate Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday, helping Andy Murray come back from the brink of death once again to realise his dream of a third Olympic gold medal.
A tearful Coco Gauff was eliminated in singles after a heated argument with the umpire, but top seed Iga Swiatek easily made it to the quarterfinals in the women’s singles.
In the men’s tournament, defending champion Alexander Zverev beat Tomáš Macak of the Czech Republic in straight sets to reach the third round and join Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who is playing on neutral ground, in the round of 16.
As temperatures soared into the mid-30s, umpires at Roland Garros activated heat protocols and allowed a 10-minute break between the second and third sets.
Nadal returned to the court with Alcaraz as part of the “Nadal-Caracas” dream team just 24 hours after his singles defeat to Novak Djokovic in his 60th match.
Bolstered by the cheers of Court Suzanne Lenglen, the Spanish pair dropped the second set but stepped up a gear in the match tiebreak to beat Dutch pair Taron Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhoff 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 10-2 in two hours and 22 minutes.
“It was fun because I was up in the tiebreak,” Nadal said.
“We’re struggling, but we enjoy playing together, we have good synergy, good energy, so overall we’re enjoying it.”
The 38-year-old, 14-time French Open champion, has struggled with injuries in recent years and is ranked 161st in the world.
After his heartbreaking loss to Djokovic, he said he would make a decision about his future after Paris, where he still has a chance to win another gold medal after winning the singles gold medal at Beijing in 2008 and the doubles title at Rio in 2016.
Malay Magic
Britain’s Murray, playing his final career tournament in doubles with Dan Evans, saved match points in two consecutive rounds.
Murray and Evans reached the quarterfinals after beating Belgium’s Sander Gille and Goran Vliegen 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 11-9.
They survived two match points in a tense final-set tiebreaker, two days after surviving five match points in their opening match victory.
Murray said he cried “tears of happiness” on court after his emotional win.
“I’m excited to get another great finish,” the three-time Grand Slam champion said. “That kind of stuff takes a toll on you, so I’m glad I have tomorrow off!”
Earlier, Croatia’s Donna Vekic shocked world number two Gauff by beating her 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 in a match that was overshadowed by a protracted argument between the US Open champion and the chair umpire.
Gauff, who served as the U.S. flag bearer alongside NBA star LeBron James at the Olympic opening ceremony, got into a lengthy argument with the umpire at the end of the sixth game of the second set.
At 30-40, Vekic hit a deep return to Gauff’s forehand, and Gauff missed it into the net.
Vekic’s shot was ruled out but the chair umpire overturned the decision, awarding the Croatian the point and giving Vekic the crucial break, with Gauff arguing that the initial decision had put her shot in jeopardy.
“I always have to defend myself,” the 20-year-old Gauff said on court, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m being lied to in this match. You’re not being fair to me.”
Vekic, ranked 21st in the world, lost his cool briefly and fell behind 0-40 on his own serve, but then recovered to hold and break again.
Swiatek beat China’s Wang Xiyu 6-3, 6-4 on clay in Paris to record her 24th consecutive win and will next face American Danielle Collins.
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Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber of Germany, Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova and China’s Zheng Qinwen also won titles.
Check out Inquirer Sports’ special coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
