Carlos Alcaraz-Rafael Nadal Olympic Games partnership confirmed: 5 other times Grand Slam winners have teamed up

Oli Dickson Jefford
Williams Sisters, Boris Becker and Michael Stich
We look back at five blockbuster Olympic Games doubles pairings

It’s official: Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will play doubles together at Paris 2024.

The announcement that Nadal, who already has won two Olympic Games gold medals, will be playing doubles with Alcaraz was widely expected but was confirmed in today’s Spanish team announcement.

New French Open champion Alcaraz will be making his Olympic debut, and the pair are set to have all eyes on them when action starts at Roland Garros in July.

But this is not the first time two Grand Slam singles champions have joined forces to attempt and win doubles gold at the Olympics.

We look back at five other legendary teams who have embarked on an Olympic quest.

Venus and Serena Williams (USA)

No players have had more success at the Olympics than the Williams sisters, with four gold medals each – and three of them won together.

The duo made their debut at the Sydney 2000 games and while Venus won singles gold, they combined to defeat Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans in the doubles final.

Eight years later they recaptured their title in Beijing with victory over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, dropping just two games in the final.

And they won a third gold together at London 2012, defeating Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka – while Serena won individual singles gold.

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)

Neither Federer nor Wawrinka won singles gold, but the two Swiss Slam winners combined to win the doubles title at Beijing 2008.

The pair were fourth seeds in the draw and did not drop a set on their way to the semi-final, dispatching Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the last eight.

Federer and Wawrinka were significant underdogs for their semi-final against top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan – but also did not drop a set against the Americans to reach the gold medal match.

The final against unseeded Swedish pairing Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin would prove to be their toughest throughout the tournament.

However, the Swiss pairing prevailed in four sets to take home the gold medal.

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Boris Becker and Michael Stich (Germany)

Becker and Stich were far from friends on tour, with the latter beating the former in the 1991 Wimbledon final.

But the two Germans were forced to put their differences aside for the 1992 Games in Barcelona and ultimately took home the gold medal.

The sixth seeds battled their way into the last four after an epic five-set battle in the quarter-final, the pair ending the campaign of third seeds and home favourites Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez.

Becker and Stich then won another five-set match against seventh seeds Javier Frana and Christian Miniussi to reach the gold medal match.

And they sealed Olympic glory with an impressive display in the final, downing South African fourth seeds Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval in four sets.

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Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain)

Two of Spain’s greatest-ever female players combined to achieve significant success over multiple Olympic Games.

Martinez and Sanchez Vicario first joined forces at their home Olympics in Barcelona, cruising through to the final and taking home the silver medal after a three-set loss to Gigi Fernandez and Mary Joe Fernandez.

Four years later the two paired up again for the Atlanta games, losing in the semi-final – but taking home a bronze medal after a dominant victory in the bronze medal playoff against Manon Bollegraf and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy.

They last played together in Sydney, losing in round two – though Martinez would win a further doubles silver medal in Athens alongside Ruano Pascual.

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya (Spain)

This will not be the first time that Nadal has played doubles alongside a fellow Spanish Grand Slam winner.

A then-teenage Nadal played alongside Moya at the Athens 2004 Games, with the latter – a former No 1 and French Open winner – the biggest name in that pairing at the time.

It wasn’t to be for the Spaniards, who lost in straight sets to Andre Sa and Flavio Saretta in round one.

Now Nadal’s coach, Moya will likely accompany his charge to Paris this summer.

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