Rafael Nadal Comes to Carlos Alcaraz’s Defense over Partying Criticism: “I Went to Ibiza Every Single Year”

After the grueling clay swing, Carlos Alcaraz flies to Ibiza for some much-needed downtime before starting his preparation for the grass swing. Because of this, many in the tennis world have questioned his work ethic.

Even his former coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, was against him partying in Ibiza. But Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, himself used to visit the island, as he admitted during his interview with CNN. Nadal backed Alcaraz to enjoy his life to the fullest away from the tennis court to maintain a balance between work and life.

Everyone has a different personality, you know. I did, too. My life was not only tennis. I went to Ibiza every single year with my friends. But, I mean, everyone needs to find their own space. I think some people need more, some people need less, but my life was much more than tennis.

But at the moment, the 23-year-old is nursing a wrist injury. He has not revealed what exactly happened to his wrist, which has forced him to withdraw from not just Roland Garros but also Wimbledon. Because of his injury, Alcaraz handed the walkover to Tomas Machac in the second round of the Barcelona Open and later skipped the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.

But I didn’t want to project that to the world because I didn’t find it interesting for the world that I was going to Ibiza or I was going to this or the other thing. I mean, he decided to make that public. I respect that. It seems like it’s working very well for him.

Rafael Nadal added

The seven-time Grand Slam champion had 4,300 points to defend on the clay swing. His defeat to his arch-rival Jannik Sinner in the Monte Carlo final saw him lose his No.1 ranking to the Italian ace.

John McEnroe backs Novak Djokovic to win the French Open in Carlos Alcaraz’s absence

Many believe Carlos Alcaraz’s absence has opened up the draw at the French Open. The two-time defending champion beat Alexander Zverev in five sets in 2024, while last year, he came from two sets down and saved three championship points in a thrilling final versus Jannik Sinner.

Apart from Zverev and Sinner, there’s another guy who, John McEnroe believes, should seize the opportunity. It’s Novak Djokovic, who defeated Sinner in this year’s Australian Open semifinal and later lost the final to the World No.2.

You’d have to say that when it looked even bleaker that he’d win another, the door’s opened up obviously more for [Djokovic] as well as Zverev, for example, and others that have been struggling. You talk about wide open in a way, other than the obvious guy, Sinner. But to me, ultimately, it’s Sinner against the field. I’d take Sinner right now. But it does open the door for a bunch of other guys to make runs they weren’t ever going to potentially going to make.

John McEnroe told Adam Zagorio of Forbes

Sinner is on a 29-match winning streak thanks to his wins at the Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters, Madrid Open, and the Italian Open. The four-time Major champion will be aiming to become the seventh man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Zverev has played three finals in Majors but never tasted success, while Djokovic clinched his record-extending 24th Major at the 2023 US Open. Since then, the Serb has featured in two Grand Slam finals (2024 Wimbledon and the 2026 Australian Open). The main draw of the French Open is set to start on May 24th.

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