Thursday, October 17, 2024, 11:38 p.m.
| Updated 11:45 p.m.
The last confrontation between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz was won by the Murcian. It was predictable, against a Nadal out of rhythm and without competing since the Olympic Games, but the one from El Palmar, much more dynamic, confirmed it this Thursday on the luxurious court in Riyadh with a solid victory (6-3 and 6-3). with which he enters the final of this million-dollar exhibition tournament in which he will face the Italian Jannik Sinner in the final this Saturday for a total jackpot of six million euros.
Nadal, for his part, will relive the last chapter of his rivalry with the Serbian Novak Djokovic, – without any importance for the final head-to-head – in the match for third and fourth place also on Saturday. The Spaniard announced his retirement just a week ago and this friendly competition in Saudi Arabia will be, unless there is a last-minute change, his only unofficial preparation before the goodbye in the Davis Cup in Malaga from November 19 to 24.
After weeks and weeks of training at his academy, Nadal flew to Riyadh for a tournament in which, unlike Alcaraz, who had to beat the Dane Holger Rune in the quarterfinals, he entered directly into the semifinals. Given the category of the tournament, in which each participant wins 1.5 million euros just for being in Arab lands, the rival was not going to be easy and when Alcaraz defeated Rune the fourth chapter of the rivalry against Nadal was confirmed.
Memories of Paris
After Nadal’s victories in Madrid 2021 and Indian Wells 2022 and Alcaraz’s triumph in Madrid 2022, this was the most favored duel, precisely because of the decline that Nadal is experiencing and his lack of filming. His last official match was the lost duel in the doubles at the Paris Olympic Games this summer, precisely alongside Alcaraz.
The start of the match showed that competitive rust and the team from Manacor lost the first eight points. Alcaraz, with the advantage already well held, played with great calm and knowing he was superior. In fact, the player from Murcia did not face any breaking balls nor did he force the machine, so without too much fuss he tied the first set at the third chance he had.
Rafa Nadal greets the public on the Riyadh court after the match.
EFE
«Rafa played a bad first game, but then he competed well. We can see that as the minutes go by he has more rhythm,” explained Carlos Moyá, his coach and former top-level tennis player, from the stands, who is one of the several members of Nadal’s team that has accompanied him to Saudi Arabia.
Almost no real opposition
What happened with Alcaraz was not condescension, but it was not one of those days in which he was going to enjoy himself on the track. He was seen with some acrobatics at the net, with a couple of spectacular passes and several great winning shots, but the lack of real opposition took away some of the shine from a match that Alcaraz soon decided in his favor.
With barely an hour of play, Alcaraz already had a lead of 6-3 and 4-1, more than enough to consider the match won. However, despite the corrective, Nadal had a good time. He even laughed when a point went well and took his mistakes philosophically, aware that it is one of his last opportunities to play against one of the best in the world and that, when he hangs up his racket, he will miss all these emotions.
“I tried, I had been out of competition for two months, but it was a good match,” Nadal admitted after the match.
Finally, when Alcaraz sealed the victory by a double 6-3 and merged into a hug with Nadal, there was only laughter between them. Neither one celebrated it excessively, nor did the other take it too seriously. More than a last battle, it was a friendly. Meanwhile, from the stands, the shouts of “Rafa, Rafa” were followed by Alcaraz’s applause.
«Carlos has been too good, he is playing fantastic. I tried, I had been out of competition for two months, but it was a good game. “It has been positive,” Nadal declared shortly after concluding the match before the almost 8,000 spectators who saw it ‘in situ’.. “I had to play at my best level to be able to beat Rafa. It’s always nice to share the track with him,” Alcaraz replied in a gesture of greatness towards the Spanish champion.
