Carlos Alcaraz (No. 2 in the ATP world ranking) had a pleasant presentation this Wednesday at the Six King Slaman exhibition that is taking place in Saudi Arabia. The Spaniard, who made his debut in the quarterfinals, easily got rid of Holger Rune (No. 14) by 6-4 y 6-2.
With the victory consummated, the Murcian official made a new clash with Rafael Nadal (153rd), who was directly classified to the semifinals. In this regard and on the field, the winner of four Grand Slam tournaments expressed: “Still my idol. It is a very important person in my life and in my career. One of the reasons I became a professional. I don’t know if I’ll play with him again… it’s a privilege but it’s also hard for me. “I’ll try to enjoy it.”
“I will go with everything. I’m not surprised that he’s playing 100% in practice, hitting the ball super hard and feeling really good. The player and legend that he is, it doesn’t matter that he has been away from tennis for three or four months. He will come back as strong as ever. I’ll need to play good tennis if I want to beat him. I will play to the maximum without fear“declared the recent champion at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Alcaraz will face the 22-time tournament champion for the fourth time in his career major. In history, Nadal is up 2-1, having beaten Carlitos in the Madrid Masters 1000 (2021) and Indian Wells (2022), while the one born in El Palmar achieved his only victory in the Masters 1000 in the Spanish capital in 2022.
In addition, it should be noted that both were a couple during the Paris Olympic Games.. However, their stay in doubles was short as they succumbed in the quarterfinals against Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek. Will they also be the Spanish duo in the Final 8 of the 2024 Davis Cup in Malaga?
