Rafael Nadal has kept his distance from the tour since this season’s Australian Open. His injuries have taken a toll on his consistency. The never-give-up spirit is still present in Nadal. The Spanish legend has been impressed with the performance of his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, because of the same mindset displayed by the young sensation.
When asked about Alcaraz, Nadal said the young player has power and ambition. He suggested the defending US Open champion has always to keep improving his game, which will keep him motivated. When asked about advising the young player, he said, “I am very bad at advising bc I have learned more from examples than from words.” Nadal went on to say that he wishes to play doubles with Alcaraz at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Rafa Nadal was asked what advice he would give to Carlos Alcaraz:
“We should not rush into judgments about him. He has the power, the ambition. But later in the careers of each athlete, many things can happen. It is difficult to advise him. I am very bad at advising bc I have… pic.twitter.com/bnSWlZ3fmW
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 22, 2023
Nadal has faced Alcaraz thrice on tour and won the first two matches. Alcaraz won their last meeting in 2022 at Madrid Masters 1000. Novak Djokovic has also recorded two victories against the 20-year-old. Alcaraz has also played against Andy Murray, with the pair sharing one win each. The young Spaniard could not play against Roger Federer on tour.
Roger Federer missing out on challenging Carlos Alcaraz
Federer had already won his first Wimbledon title by the time the world No.2 was born. The Swiss maestro retired from the tour in 2021 and was absent when Alcaraz was on the rise. Federer joked at the Laver Cup, saying he was sorry he couldn’t challenge Alcaraz. The pair had chances of meeting in 2021, but Federer did not play after Wimbledon.
The 20-time grand slam champion had said that the two-time-grand slam-champion has achieved incredible things at a young age. He had closely watched Alcaraz win the US Open last year and believed the game was in good hands. Both players had a practice session at Wimbledon in 2019 as Federer warmed up before his quarterfinal match against Kei Nishikori.
July 10th, 2019. Roger Federer was warming up before his Wimbledon QF against a “kid” that JCF was training. I remember JCF saying to Roger “hit hard, he can handle it”. The kid was Carlos Alcaraz. Fast forward to 2023, he’s now a #Wimbledon champion 👑 pic.twitter.com/RF6dqO2aRO
— Prasad Bhutkar (@marcinthegooner) July 16, 2023
The 20-year-old said he learned a lot after the session with Federer. Ivan Ljubicic had described Alcaraz as a mixture of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Federer said the comparison is a lot to live up to, especially at this age. Alcaraz can try to play at the Laver Cup next season and relive the practice session with Federer.