“Was he drunk or something?”- Fans lambast interviewer for calling Rafael Nadal ‘loser’ after defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in Six Kings Slam semifinals

Fans were angry at interviewer Andrew Castle for referring to Rafael Nadal as a loser after he lost to Carlos Alcaraz at the Six Kings Slam.

“Was he drunk or something?”- Fans lambast interviewer for calling Rafael Nadal ‘loser’ after defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in Six Kings Slam semifinals

Interviewer called Rafael Nadal a 'loser' following his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz (Images via X)

Carlos Alcaraz locked horns with Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh on Thursday (October 18), and as expected, the youngster emerged as the winner. He defeated his idol 6-3, 6-3 at The Venue to secure a place in the final.

Following the match, when it was time for the on-court interview, British interviewer Andrew Castle referred to Nadal as a “loser” as he asked Alcaraz, “Do you mind if I start with the loser?“. The 21-year-old however, asked him not to use such words. 

Don’t talk like that. Don’t talk like that. 

Carlos Alcaraz said 

Later in another interview, Alcaraz, despite his win, was all praise for Nadal as the 38-year-old will soon retire from tennis. Alcaraz will have another chance to play with Nadal as the Davis Cup, scheduled in November in Malaga, will be the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s final tournament of his career.

Before beating Nadal, Alcaraz played in the quarterfinals against Holger Rune. In the first semifinal, Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic after storming past Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals. Both Nadal and Djokovic were given direct entry to the semifinals by the organizers of the Six Kings Slam.

Fans slam interviewer for his ‘loser’ remark on Rafael Nadal

Netizens reminded the interviewer that Rafael Nadal, though he’s not playing his best tennis, is definitely not a ‘loser’. They schooled him to use proper words to describe Nadal who is one of the greats of the game. Fans also praised Carlos Alcaraz for interrupting the interviewer when he made that remark.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (Image via X)

Check out their reactions here:

The winner between Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the final will take home $6 million. All six players will also win $1 million for their participation in the tournament.

The final will be Alcaraz’s 11th meeting against Sinner as they have played 10 matches on the ATP Tour, out of which Alcaraz has won six matches. This season, the Spaniard has won all the encounters against Sinner (Indian Wells, French Open, and Beijing).

Both Alcaraz and Sinner last participated in the Shanghai Masters. While Alcaraz was eliminated by Tomas Machac in straight sets in the quarterfinals, Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic in the final to lift his first title in Shanghai. Before Riyadh, Sinner and Alcaraz battled it out at the China Open, but Alcaraz in the end took home the trophy with a three-set win.

Although the Six Kings Slam is just an exhibition event, Sinner will play his fifth consecutive final. He reached the summit clashes at the Cincinnati Masters, US Open, China Open, and the Shanghai Masters, winning in three tournaments, except in Beijing.