Exclusive: Alex Corretja hopes Rafael Nadal return leads to Carlos Alcaraz doubles pairing at Paris Olympic Games
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Updated 20/03/2024 at 16:10 GMT
Nadal will make his return to tennis at the Brisbane International in January after almost a year out with injury. He will then aim to play at the first Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open. Nadal has previously suggested that 2024 could be his final season on tour. Alex Corretja hopes Nadal will be fit enough to team up with Carlos Alcaraz for Spain at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Alcaraz v Djokovic - ATP Finals highlights
Alex Corretja hopes a successful return to action for Rafael Nadal leads to an “explosive” doubles pairing with Carlos Alcaraz for Spain at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Nadal - who has been out of action due to injury since last year’s Australian Open - will be back on court at the Brisbane International in January before he hopes to play the first Grand Slam of 2024 in Melbourne.
The 22-time major champion has previously indicated that next season could be his last on tour.
Although there are many hurdles for Nadal to get over before thoughts turn to the Olympics, Eurosport expert Corretja thinks there would be something magical about him playing for his country on the court which has seen him win 14 of his individual Grand Slam titles.
“Both the facts that the Olympics being played at Roland Garros and that Rafa will enter the games thinking it is his last shot to add a medal for the country makes a important moment," Corretja told Eurosport.
“If you add to the mix, that he could play with [Carlos] Alcaraz in doubles, that becomes explosive, that would be something attractive, that would really be a very unusual combination, but I think it would work out very well because the two are 'winners.'
“Although they do not know each other so well because they have coincided little in the circuit, I am convinced that the chemistry would be brutal.”
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'Right moment to be back' - Nadal to make return at Brisbane International
At every tournament Nadal plays in what is expected to be his farewell year, his will be the hottest ticket in stadiums around the world.
Corretja expects there to be plenty more moments to celebrate with the Spaniard.
“I think the word is that Rafa thinks he can still express his tennis with what he has in his tank and he wants to display it and that is why he will play, because he wants to finish on the court," he said.
“Whatever happens the public is going to value him. I think that every time Rafa will play it is going to become like a party and that is positive and it is nice for him, I really think he deserves it.”
The tournament Nadal will be most keen to feature in, above any other, is the French Open, which gets underway in May.
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Rafael Nadal has been out of action since suffering injury at the Australian Open in January 2023
Image credit: Getty Images
With 14 titles already to his name on the Parisian clay, he will be desperate for one last outing.
“For me, if Rafa is able to play between 15 and 20 matches from January until Roland Garros, there is no doubt that he is going to be in very good shape to think about returning to success at Roland Garros,” Corretja said.
“At best five sets, he knows he get into his territory. There is no one better in history than him.”
“That's why I believe, honestly, that Rafa, if he has left of gasoline in the tank, I believe that he will bet everything to be at 100% in Roland Garros. That for me would be the ultimate goal to see if he is capable of something crazy, to score a 15 at Roland Garros.”
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