Nadal says Alcaraz ‘will be one of the best in history’

 

● The 22-time Major champion reflects on Alcaraz’s Wimbledon win

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz won his fourth major title at Wimbledon on Sunday and compatriot Rafael Nadal gave the 21-year-old a warm welcome the next day.

“My impression is that we are talking about a player who will be one of the best [in] history. This is my feeling,” Nadal said after partnering Casper Ruud for a first-round doubles victory at the Nordea Open in Bastad. “[He is] a player with enormous potential. Life can change quickly, that’s the truth. You never know what can happen in the future. But today if we have to predict what will happen in his career, we predict incredible things.”

It’s not the first time that Nadal, a 22-time major champion, has praised Alcaraz. The Spaniards are set to compete together in doubles at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

But on Monday in Sweden Nadal elaborated on why he believes so much in the two-time Wimbledon champion, who has won both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

“His tennis level is very high,” Nadal said. “If he can stay away from injuries, obviously Sinner is there. But today I see him with Sinner over the others without a doubt. I don’t see many players who can stop him on Tour and I think the best thing he has today is that in every tournament he plays, no matter the surface, he will be the favorite.”

According to the left-handed player, Nadal explained that in his generation he was usually the favorite on clay, while at the beginning of his career grass was the domain of Roger Federer and hard courts were shared between Federer and Novak Djokovic.

“But no player was the favorite before each tournament and today I feel he has that aura, that feeling,” Nadal said of Alcaraz. “That’s a big advantage because I think he feels that [if] he’s playing at his level [that it] It’s hard for anyone to beat him.”

The 38-year-old competes in the Bastad event this week for the first time since 2005, when he lifted the trophy at 19. Since then, he has written one of the greatest careers in the history of the sport.

Nadal will begin his singles tournament on Tuesday against fellow wild card Leo Borg, son of another former PIF ATP No. 1, Bjorn Borg. It will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“When you’re 19 or 18 or 17, when I first came here, I remember coming here and playing with friends, with Juan Monaco, with Carlos Moya, with Zabaleta, playing PlayStation, having dinner, and then partying a little bit. Different things,” said Nadal, who two decades later has 1,075 tour-level wins, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “When you’re 38, life changes a little bit and you realize how beautiful the place is, and I didn’t remember how beautiful the place was when I came here now.

“I can tell you that when you’re a little older, you become more interested in things. You’re more interested in walking around a little, walking by the sea, getting to know the village a little more. The last time I was here, I was only 19, so [it is a] a different world, I can tell you.”

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