Rafael Nadal was not merciful against his young compatriot in dismantling him at the
Madrid Open but he gave praise after the match.
It all about Spain in the match between Nadal and Carlos Alcaracaz in a clash between the current Spanish tennis leader and the potential future one. Alcaraz injured himself early which hampered his play and Nadal cruised to a victory. Despite that, Nadal gave him high praise:
“He has a lot of potential. He's young and [a] good guy. He already has a great level of tennis today, but I really believe that he’s going to be a fantastic player in the near future."
Those words are high praise for a young player such as Alcaraz and Nadal is not the only one who ushered similar words. He also added:
“I wish him all the very best. [As a] Spanish player and Spanish [tennis] fan, I really believe that we need somebody like him, and it's great to have him here.”
Nadal will play against Alexei Popyrin in the next round after the Aussie shockingly took down Sinner in a convincing fashion. On that match Nadal said:
“He has a huge serve, great forehand, young... Another tough opponent. But here we are in Masters 1000, so we can't expect another thing. I hope to be ready to play well. That's what I am going to need every single day if I want to have chances to keep playing. Tomorrow is another tough battle. I hope to be ready.”
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