“I’m 36” Rafael Nadal gives a crisp answer on his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz
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Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal
World No. 4 and one of the title favourites of every clay event that he plays in, Rafael Nadal narrowly escaped a certain defeat yesterday during his Round of 16 match against David Goffin at the 2022 Madrid Open. After taking the first set, it looked like another straight-set win for Nadal as he was 5-3 up in the second set and had match points to his name. Goffin however fought back to take the second set 7-5 and force a decider.
The match was eventually decided in the tie-breaker of the third set after Nadal had saved 4 match points himself to win the match 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(9) after an intense battle of 3 hours and 9 minutes. The win takes Nadal into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open for the 16th time in his 19th tournament appearance and will now take on his successor in Spanish tennis, World No. 9 Carlos Alcaraz who turned 19 yesterday during his 3rd round win over Cameron Norrie.
Speaking to the press after his hard-earned win, Nadal was asked if he and Carlos could develop a great rivalry between them having played two matches so far. While their first match was an easy win for Nadal in Madrid Open last year, the teenager gave his childhood idol a tough time during their semi-finals in the 2022 Indian Wells Masters but failed to defeat the Mallorcan.
“No, no, no. I don’t think I will reach that rivalry. I’m 36 years old. I don’t know. It’s natural. At the end of the day, it’s a new generation. It’s happened during all history. History repeats it, and thank God it’s good that someone like Carlos has reached this level to be able to maintain our tennis level as high as possible for the next hopefully a lot of years.
“As a supporter of tennis and sportsperson, I think it’s great to have a player like Carlos that has been able to reach this level and this strength. I think he’s a player that’s going to give us a lot of good moments in the next, I don’t know, 10, 12 years, 14. This is the reality I’m talking about,” told Nadal to the reporters declining any chance to build up a rivalry but not taking credit away from the youngster who is on a rapid rise in the sport.
Rafael Nadal doesn’t believe he can defeat Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid
With a highly exciting quarter-final match scheduled between Rafa and Carlitos, the 21-time Grand Slam champion talked of his chances against the teenager with both players looking for their fourth title of the season and are in a sensational form this season.
“Well, it’s a very, very tough match, of course. I think that today, he is better than me and he has a good dynamic, a good momentum. I am conscious of what we have right now. I think I am a very realistic person, and that doesn’t take me to not believe that I can win or that I can do it, but today I think that Alcaraz is in a better physical state of mind and is more fit. I came here without playing. He’s younger, so he has that extra energy,” said Nadal further.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)