According to Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal is looking forward to retiring from the court next year. He also made jokes about Carlos Alcaraz’s promise to allow Rafael to win a championship, after his comeback from the injury, before he puts up his racquet.
Nadal sustained an abdominal illness later at the Wimbledon Championship and was forced to sit out for a while. He last participated in competitive play in the Australian Open earlier this year, where he lost in the second round.
Nadal declared at a press conference at the end of May that he was retiring from tennis. He added that his final season on the ATP tour might be in 2024.
Toni Nadal made this statement via Marca in a humorous way by saying: “Rafa is fine, on vacation, wanting to hit the court in 2024. Let’s hope Alcaraz lets us win something then. He is excited to come back and retire on the track.”
Toni made these remarks about Alcaraz after 20-year-old won Wimbledon beating Novak Djokovic and winning the title showing his impressive performance. So Toni believes Carlos can be the one who can threaten Nadal’s comeback and let him win any tournament.
Rafael Nadal in 2023
Currently ranked no.139, Nadal played his last match on the 18th of January when he lost to world no.60 Mackenzie Mcdonald 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the 2nd round of the Australian Open (draw).
Currently, during this season the Spaniard has achieved an overall 1-3 record.
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
At the moment ranked no.1, Carlos played his last match on the 16th of July when he overcame world no.2 Novak Djokovic 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in the final in Wimbledon to win his 12th career title.
This year the Spaniard has managed to achieve a 47-4 match record. Carlos clinched 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Carlos got to the final in Rio de Janeiro.
He is also scheduled to play in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open) on the 13th of August and U.S. Open (U.S. Open) on the 28th of August.
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz squared off 3 times. Their current record is 2-1 for Nadal. Previously, the last time they competed against each other, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-2 1-6 6-3 in the quarter in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) in May 2022.
Here the video highlights.
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz |
Embed from Getty Images |