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In what might be his final appearance at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal left the Paris OIympics without a medal after he and Spanish teammate Carlos Alcaraz were knocked out of the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament by Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
Nadal had 14 French Open titles at Roland Garros, but he and Alcaraz fell to Ram and Krajicek in straight sets (6-4, 6-4).
“Honestly, it’s the teamwork,” Ram told Yahoo Sports’ Kendall Baker after the match. “We talk a lot about helping each other and lifting each other — not necessarily about tennis. We all know how to play the game. When you’re out there, it’s more about, can you get yourself and your partner in the right state of mind?
“There’s some shots that help in doubles — the serve, net play, those kind of things — which we work on a lot. But a lot of it is the teamwork, which is cool, I think.”
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile is one step closer to claiming an Olympic gold medal, the one piece of hardware that has eluded him throughout his career. The Serbian defeated Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to move on to the quarterfinals.
His next opponent will be Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, and there’s a little history between the two of them. They’ve played each other 13 times over the past six years, with Djokovic winning their last 10 matches for 11 wins overall to Tsitsipas’ two. Their most famous match was in 2021 at the French Open finals, when Djokovic came roaring back from a 2-0 deficit and almost certain defeat to win the title.
But what about the rest of the Americans? Let’s take a look at how they’re doing as the Olympic tennis events enter the home stretch.
Taylor Fritz loses, Tommy Paul advances to quarterfinals
Fritz, the No. 12 ranked men’s singles player in the world (and the No. 1 American), had looked fantastic through the first two rounds, but couldn’t get past Lorenzo Musetti in Round 3. The Italian has been playing well lately (he made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon last month, where he lost to Djokovic), and was able to beat Fritz 6-4, 7-5 in straight sets.
There is still one American left in men’s singles: No. 13 ranked Tommy Paul. He defeated France’s Corentin Moutet in straight sets on Wednesday to move on to the quarterfinals, but his next opponent may be the immovable object that stops him in his tracks: Alcaraz. Spain’s heir to Nadal (who also happens to be godlike on clay) won the French Open in June, then defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final just weeks later. Now he’ll face Paul in the quarters at the Olympics after defeating Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday. It’ll take a lot for Paul to defeat Alcaraz, but we’ve seen stranger things at the Olympics.
Iga Swiatek advances to semifinals
Iga Swiatek moved on to the semifinals after Danielle Collins retired in the third set of their match (6-1, 2-6, 4-1).
Swiatek cruised through the first set before Collins evened the match. Collins briefly dazed Swiatek in the third set with a crushing backhand to the ribcage. After Swiatek took a 4-1 lead in the final set, Collins retired. The two appeared to exchange words at the end of the match.
Swiatek will now face Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals.
Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula fall to Czech team in women’s doubles
The duo of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula was seeded No. 1 overall in women’s doubles at the Olympics. Less than two months ago, they won their first Grand Slam doubles title at Roland Garros, where they played on Wednesday. Unlike at the French Open, Gauff and Pegula weren’t able to triumph. They lost to Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova after splitting the first two sets 6-2, 4-6, then losing the tiebreak 5-10.
Gauff, who was eliminated in women’s singles on Tuesday, fell in mixed doubles alongside Taylor Fritz later on Wednesday afternoon, too. That officially ended her hopes of winning a medal this summer. Gauff and Fritz lost to Canadians Gabby Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (2), 3-6, 10-8.
