Rafael Nadal surfed a wave of crowd support to stay on track for a third Olympic gold medal on Tuesday, teaming up with Carlos Alcaraz to reach the men’s doubles quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
The Spanish dream team, dubbed “Nadalcaraz”, edged out Dutch pair Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof in their second-round clash in cloying heat, winning 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 10-2.
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The packed crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen made no secret of their support for the Spanish team, regularly chanting: “Let’s go Rafa, let’s go”.
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The red-shirted Nadal, 38, was dumped out of the singles by Novak Djokovic on Monday but emerged alongside his 21-year-old teammate to loud applause from the expectant crowd 24 hours later.