Paris Olympics: Nadal unhappy with tennis scheduling, may miss singles event

Rafael Nadal has voiced his displeasure with the scheduling of the Paris Games, casting doubt on his participation in the opening singles match after his triumph in the men's doubles opener with Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard’s doubles match alongside Alcaraz, where the Spanish duo ousted sixth-seeded Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the second round, concluded at close to 10 pm on Saturday night, while his singles first round match is to be played at 2 pm on Sunday afternoon.

"A 2:00 p.m. game? I don’t understand the schedule. It seems outrageous to me when I’m playing at two o’clock," said Nadal to the media on Saturday evening in Paris.

Nadal, who also picked up a thigh injury in training, played the entirety of the one-hour, 47-minute match with his upper right leg taped, but the lefty showed no signs of hindered movement.

If Nadal does compete in the singles event, his opponent will also be Hungary’s Fucsovics. A win would set a match-up with another tennis great and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, who raced to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Australian Matthew Ebden in 53 minutes to reach the second round.

"I don’t know if I’ll play tomorrow. I’ll have to go back to the village and talk to the team, I’ll make the decision that I think is most appropriate to have a chance of getting results for Spain. Sometimes less is more," said Nadal, a two-time gold medallist (2008 Beijing singles, 2016 Rio doubles).

Alcaraz and Nadal made a roaring start to their much-anticipated doubles debut Saturday at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

"The match was of the highest level. I think we played well and in the decisive moments, we played with the right determination. The match was of the highest level, the rivals were a very consolidated pair, one of the best in the world. It was a difficult match, we enjoyed it but also suffered at times," said Nadal on his doubles doubes match with Alcaraz.

Up next for the pair of former World No. 1's in the PIF ATP Rankings are Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof or Hungarians Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan. Fucsovics is Nadal’s first-round singles opponent.