Tsitsipas, resounding: “Alcaraz will be the next Rafa Nadal in tennis”

Stefanos Tsitsipas faces a new challenge this week on the clay of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, the Conde de Godó Tournament, after being surprised by Taylor Fritz in the Masters 1,000 in Monte Carlo.

Tsitsipas has given an interview to the ATP in which he has reviewed numerous current issues in tennis, such as the figure of Rafa Nadal. “Nadal has given a lot to our sport. And when he’s around you can feel his presence and his energy and how he works hard for every point. And his spirit, that spirit that he has on and off the track, is an example.”

The Greek tennis player also spoke about Carlos Alcaraz, who has no qualms about calling him the next Nadal. “We have someone who looks a lot like him, who is Carlos Alcaraz, for how he goes to each ball on the track and how he covers almost half the planet when he plays. So they have a lot of similarities and I think Alcaraz will be the next Rafa Nadal in tennis.”

Tsitsipas also took advantage of the interview to talk about Andrey Rublev, with whom he had some controversy several months ago after assuring that Rublev had “few tools” with his tennis. “Rublev is someone who deserved to win, everything he can do has gone unnoticed. He has big guns as a player and I made a mistake in the past and said nonsense about him after losing to him, my mind was on another planet. I think he is a very tough opponent and he can play whoever he is. Another good thing about Rublev is that he can play on all surfaces, and that’s good because he also keeps improving and forces us to improve as well.”