Alcaraz / Nadal v Ram / Krajicek – Olympic men's doubles quarter-finals LIVE

Austin slaps down a super serve and then bamboozles the Spanish pair with a drive volley down the middle that both leave for the other.

Nadal lashes a return wide and Ram slips away a simple volley, and in the blink of an eye the No.4 seeds consolidate to love and silence the pro-Spanish superstar crowd.

There’s a strange old start to the contest as Ram’s volley hits Alcaraz on the foot, leading the Spaniard to concede the point.

The 21-year-old quickly resets and shows lightning reflexes at the net to hammer away a smash down the middle.

Krajicek wallops a clinical volley to keep the heat on Spain and USA quickly help themselves to two break points as Alcaraz fails to readjust in time at the net to turn the ball back into play.

Nadal cannons down a wide serve to save one but Ram unleashes raw power directly at Alcaraz on the second and forces an error off the island to get the doubles specialists off to a strong start.

The players are out on court and completing the obligatory pre-match snaps, coin toss and warm-up.

Ram is a class-act doubles specialist who has won four majors in the discipline. Both he and Krajicek have been ranked No.1 in doubles (separately) which makes it a tough proposition for the fledgling Spanish duo despite their penchant for clay.

The hope for the King of Clay and his prodigy, however, is that the USA pair don’t play together regularly.

This evening his targeting a semi-final berth as one half of the superstar ‘Nadalcaraz’ double-act.

Hello and welcome to LIVE updates of the men’s tennis doubles quarter-final clash between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal and USA’s No.4 seeds Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.

The players are due on Court Philippe-Chatrier shortly.