The American pairing of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajick on July 31 knocked out the fan-favorite Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz from the tennis men’s doubles event of the Paris Olympics.
The American duo won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals while putting an end to Nadal’s quest for a medal in what might just be his last appearance at the Olympic games.
At 40, Rajeev Ram was the oldest player among the four on the field in the quarterfinal match. However, that didn’t stop the former World No.1 in doubles and four-time grand slam doubles champion from landing some tough shots to take the win away from the Spaniards.
While Ram’s agility and skills earned him praise from Tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) it also attracted the wrath of heartbroken Nadal fans from all over the world, who wanted to see him advance and win gold.
Some fans also brought up previous instances at the Olympic games in which Ram upset global Tennis fans.
Ram won a silver medal in mixed doubles with Venus Williams at the 2016 Rio Olympics. While many Williams fans blamed him for eluding her from the gold, a lot more Indian tennis fans were heartbroken when the Americans defeated Indians Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in the semifinals earlier on.
Not what we wanted to see. @RajeevRam broke Indian hearts when he beat Sania and Rohan in 2016. He broke hearts around the world today. Fantastic performance from the Americans as they didn't flinch with the entire crowd against them. @WIONews pic.twitter.com/4xH7T7QZYX
— Digvijay Singh Deo (@DiggySinghDeo) July 31, 2024
every Olympics Rajeev Ram has to piss a fanbase off
— Rush (@drivevolleys) July 31, 2024
The final game of Ram/Krajicek vs Alcaraz/Nadal had to be the craziest single game in doubles I’ve ever seen. The Americans overcame quite a lot nice going @RajeevRam
— Chris Dillon (@wzrd_chris) July 31, 2024
The Americans will next play Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, who are not nearly as accomplished or experienced as the Nadal/ Alcaraz duo.
Seeing Rajeev Ram at the Olympics unlocked the early 2000s tennis obsessive part of me.
— Pranav Malhotra (@Pranavmalhotra8) July 31, 2024
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