PARIS. – Spain’s raging bulls Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz blazed into the quarterfinals of the Olympics men’s doubles, but a host of women’s singles medal contenders were knocked out as the heat was turned up at Roland Garros on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
Once again the dynamic duo received top billing on the schedule and they did not disappoint a fevered crowd as they fought off Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof to claim a 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-2 victory.
Earlier, as the mercury soared into the mid-30s Celsius (90s Fahrenheit) leaving spectators and players wilting, the women’s singles was blown apart as second seed Coco Gauff, fourth seed Jasmine Paolini and seventh seed Maria Sakkari all perished.
Women’s top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland stayed on course for gold though with a 6-3, 6-4 win against injury-hampered Chinese player Wang Xiyu to reach the quarterfinals.
Defending men’s singles champion Alexander Zverev of Germany stayed cool in the oven-like heat as the third seed kept on track for a repeat of his Tokyo title with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Czech player Tomas Machac to reach the third round.
There was only one place to be on a tropical evening alongside the Bois de Boulogne though–the claustrophobic Court Suzanne Lenglen for the latest ‘Nadalcaraz’ show.
Up against a former doubles world No. 1 in Koolhof, the Spaniards found themselves involved in a red-dirt dogfight as the Dutch showed scant regard for reputations and threatened to spoil the party by deservedly levelling the match.
But the 38-year-old Nadal and Alcaraz, 21, have 26 Grand Slam singles titles between them for a reason, and they caught fire again in the deciding tiebreak, with some electrifying tennis moving them within three wins of a dream gold medal.
“Our goal to try to get a medal is closer. So, I’m really, really happy about it and let’s see tomorrow,” said Alcaraz.
