The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Tennis: the prodigy Alcaraz offers his idol Nadal for the first time

2022-05-06T19:40:19.187Z


The 19-year-old Spaniard beat his eldest for the first time in his career this Friday in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 tournament in


Like a (small) transfer of power between the master and his student.

The day after his 19th birthday, Carlos Alcaraz offered himself a nice gift.

For the first time in his career, the Spaniard beat his idol, Rafael Nadal (6-2, 1-6, 6-3), sixteen years his senior, this Friday in the quarter-finals of the Madrid tournament.

The blow had passed all ready in Indian Wells in March where Nadal had won in three sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-3).

This time, it's the right one for Alcaraz a year after Majorcan's big victory on the same court (6-1, 6-2).

A truly memorable match!



🇪🇸 @alcarazcarlos03's win over Nadal #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/mRy1jLnTBx

— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 6, 2022

Under the eyes of footballers Raul, Toni Kroos and David Villa, he won after 2:30 of play where the two players gave each other blow for blow.

Alcaraz got a scare when he fell in the third game of the second set.

Strapped on the right foot, he then suffered the return of Nadal.

But after avoiding two break points from a monstrous passing from the third game of the 3rd set, he then concluded without panicking and showing himself to be in control of his emotions.

Author of 37 winning strokes, against 10 for Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, world No. 9, will face Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

After already beating Schwartman, Berrettini, Ruud, Tsitsipas and therefore Nadal on clay this year, nothing seems impossible for the Murcian.

“He brings freshness to the world of tennis”

“Returning to this tournament was not ideal because these are the most different conditions from Roland Garros that we have on the clay court season.

I wanted to come back to the Estoril tournament (the week before Madrid) because it's at sea level, but I wasn't ready and I didn't want to take the risk.

I have to be more dynamic, faster, I have to hit with more depth.

I have the right mindset.

I have to accept what my main objective is.

I won't talk about my foot today.

I'm going to talk about tennis.

You have to be faster, react better and read the game better, ”said Nadal after his defeat against his young compatriot.

Before their semi-final, Djokovic was dithyrambic on Alcaraz: “He broke a lot of records, he is one of the youngest top 10 in recent decades.

His growth, progress and trajectory over the past six months is amazing.

Besides, he's a very nice guy.

I love watching him play.

He is fantastic for our sport.

It's great to have a young player who is progressing so well and bringing freshness to the world of tennis.

As he is humble and has great values, it's a perfect combination.

»

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2022-05-06

You may like

Sports 2024-03-10T21:38:35.161Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.