PARIS: Rafael Nadal was poised to end his chances of a highly-anticipated Olympic showdown with Novak Djokovic on Saturday after reaching the second round of the doubles with Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.
The 38-year-old has effectively retired from the singles tournament as he battles a thigh injury picked up in training at Roland Garros, the venue for 14 of his 22 Grand Slam triumphs.
Nadal is still on the list to face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics on Sunday, with Djokovic waiting.
The Serbian world number two completed their part of the deal earlier on Saturday by demolishing Australia’s Matthew Ebden in straight sets.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know if I’ll play tomorrow or not,” said Nadal, the 2008 singles gold medalist and doubles champion eight years later in Rio.
“I’ll talk to my people and make the smartest decision I can to give myself the best chance to bring home a medal, so we’ll see.”
Nadal, whose career has been plagued by injuries, is only playing his seventh tournament of the year. His singles ranking dropped to 161.
On Saturday, Nadal and Alcaraz, playing together for the first time, beat Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in their opening doubles match.
Alcaraz had previously enjoyed a winning start to his Olympic career, sweeping aside Lebanon’s world number 275 Hady Habib in just 70 minutes to win 6-3, 6-1.
“It was an incredible experience, the energy of the crowd was crazy,” said the third-ranked Alcaraz, who won the French Open on the same court last month.
Djokovic, chasing a first Olympic gold to add to his 24 Grand Slams, swept Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 minutes under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.
Djokovic said he was looking forward to the prospect of facing Nadal again.
“If we face each other, it might be the last time on the big stage,” the Serb said.
Djokovic was barely pushed by the 36-year-old Ebden, who made it to the tournament only as a substitute after a series of absences due to injury.
The Australian Open doubles champion was broken six times and hit just seven winners against 24 Djokovic.
Only 10 matches were played on Saturday as torrential rain washed away any hope of play on the outdoor pitches.
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev, Russia’s former world number one playing in the neutral position, defeated Rinky Hijikata in straight sets under the roof of Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek battled to a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu as the 23-year-old Pole returned to the court where she won her fourth French Open title last month.
“I’m happy I did it. The atmosphere was a little different, so I was a little more nervous,” said Swiatek, who made only the second round in her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago.
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who was easily beaten by Swiatek in the French Open final, also reached the second round with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Romania’s Ana Bogdanova.
Angelique Kerber closed out the Saturday evening section, defeating her co-mother Naomi Osaka, a four-time major winner, 7-5, 6-3.
Former world number one Kerberová (36) and three-time winner of the Grand Slam title will end the Games with tennis. “The last dance is not over yet,” said the German.
