Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will play doubles together for Spain at the upcoming Paris Olympics, the Spanish tennis federation said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes three days after the 21-year-old Alcaraz won the French Open for the first time — earning his third grand slam trophy.

The same courts used for the French Open each year will host the tennis event of the Olympics. Nadal has won the French Open title for a record 14 times.

However, Nadal may miss the grass-court major at Wimbledon this year, which will end a few days before the start of the Olympics.

After being eliminated in the first round of the French Open by Alexander Zverev, Nadal had said that the Paris Olympics would be his “main goal” for the summer.

He had said it was “not a good idea”. The transition from clay to grass is the most difficult surface change on the tennis calendar. Wimbledon gets underway on July 1, with the Olympic tennis tournament starting less than a month later on July 27.

Alcaraz, who will play in his first Olympics, is widely seen as the heir to Nadal in Spanish tennis, and has frequently remarked that Nadal was his childhood hero.

“Rafa and Carlos will be playing together in Paris,” said Spain captain David Ferrer while announcing the squad.

Alcaraz has set winning an Olympic medal for Spain as one of his top career goals. He said after winning at Roland Garros that this year he would prefer a gold medal at the Paris Olympics over successfully defending his Wimbledon title.

“The Olympic Games are every four years and it’s a special tournament where you’re not only playing for yourself, but for a country, representing every Spaniard,” the No. 2-ranked Alcaraz said. “I think this year I’d choose the Olympics gold.”

The 38-year-old Nadal, who will also play the singles, already owns Olympic gold medals in singles (2008) and doubles (2016 with Marc Lopez) to go alongside his 22 grand slam titles.

Nadal said this is likely his last year on the Tour after a series of injuries.

The other Spain players in the men’s Olympic team will be Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich and Marcel Granollers.

Captain Anabel Medina picked No.55 Sara Sorribes Tormo and No. 67 Cristina Bucsa — the top-ranked Spanish players — for the women’s team, with Paula Badosa deciding not to compete as she only has two more events to play while using her protected ranking.

AP/PTI