Prominent tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg has suggested that Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz's exit in the men's doubles quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics was not an upset. Nadal and Alcaraz were comprehensively beaten 6-2, 6-4 by the USA's Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram on Wednesday, 31 July. However, a number of tennis fans have disagreed with Rothenberg's opinion.Nadal and Alcaraz, dubbed 'Nadalcaraz', served up an exciting display in the first round, as they ousted Argentina's Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez, the No. 6 seeds in the men's doubles draw. They followed that up with another win in the second round, this time against the Dutch duo of Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof. Here, the Spaniards struggled to impose themselves, eventually needing to win a super tiebreak to progress to the quarterfinals.Against fourth-seeded Krajicek and Ram though, 'Nadalcaraz' fell off drastically. The Americans never allowed the Spaniards to settle, ultimately bringing the curtain down on two-time Olympic gold medalist Nadal's Olympics career. Nadal had earlier lost to great rival Novak Djokovic in the men's singles second round.When Nadal and Alcaraz found themselves a set down, tennis journalist Jose Morgado took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:"This would/will not be an upset at all, folks"Fellow journalist Rothenberg responded to Morgado, writing:"This would definitely be an upset. Alcaraz/Nadal were the most popular pick to win gold in men’s doubles. Doubles specialist pedigrees so rarely matter against motivated singles stars, historically."Several fans later disagreed with Rothenberg's opinion. One set of fans criticized the journalist's take, opining that it was disrespectful to Krajicek, Ram, and other established doubles players."This is disingenuous lol. Rafa and Carlos never played a matched together! Fan pick and favorite for sure, but not from a doubles specialty POV," wrote a fan."2 big names in singles does not automatically make you a strong team in doubles. Also a bit disrespectful towards the doubles specialists. There is a very different kind of game being played, where other qualities are important," another fan commented."Not an actual upset but certainly a disappointing result," author Bastien Fachan chimed in.Here are some more fan reactions:"Comments so much on stuff happening outside the court he has zero tennis knowledge now," a fan wrote."You can’t be serious?? Alcaraz has played like no doubles and it shows," commented another fan."Popular pick means nothing. I thought you were a tennis journalist??" wrote a fan."It was very special" - Carlos Alcaraz pens heartfelt message for Rafael Nadal following their Paris Olympics doubles exitRafael Nadal (L) and Carlos Alcaraz (R) (Source: Getty)Alcaraz sent a message of gratitude and recognition to Nadal via his Instagram after the match. The World No. 3 expressed his gratitude to the 22-time Major winner for their collective experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Alcaraz is making his Games debut. The reigning French Open and Wimbledon winner also stated that the experience had proved to be one of learning for him."Thank you very much Rafa for this week and for having shared the track with me playing for [Spain]! Couldn't be today, but I'm taking a lot of things for the future! It was very special!" Alcaraz wrote on Instagram.Meanwhile, Alcaraz's singles campaign is set to continue in the quarterfinals against Tommy Paul, the last American tennis player remaining at the prestigious Games across men's and women's singles events.