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Rafael Nadal is one of Carlos Alcaraz's biggest admirers. This is something that he's made clear over the past year when he's praised Alcaraz's numerous achievements. Following Alcaraz's latest win at Wimbledon, Nadal had some of his best praise reserved for the young tennis player.
Nadal shared his thoughts on a press conference, after playing doubles with Casper Ruud at the Nordea Open. “My impression is we are talking about a player that is going to be one of the best [in] history. That's my feeling,” said Nadal.
“[He is] a player with huge potential. Life can change quick, that's the truth. You never know what can happen in the future. But today if we have to predict what's going on in his career, we predict amazing things.”
Nadal spoke of Alcaraz again a few days later, sharing more praise and elaborating on his initial thoughts. “His level of tennis is super high,” he said. “If he is able to stay away from injuries, of course Sinner is there. But I see him with Sinner over the rest today without a doubt. I don't see a lot of players that can stop him on Tour and I think the best thing that he has today is in every tournament that he plays, doesn't matter the surface, he is going to be the favorite.”
He continued to explain that in his generation, he was the favorite on clay while players like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic also had their strengths. “But no one player was the favorite before every tournament and today I feel that he has that that aura, that feeling,” Nadal continued. “That's a big advantage because I think he feels that [if] he's playing at his level [that it] is difficult that somebody's going to beat him.”
More details about Nadal's performance at the Nordea Open
Nadal and Ruud made for a great teamup, winning their match against Theo Arribage and Roman Safiulin. The two are scheduled to play together again for the tournament's semi-finals, where they'll play against Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos.