Following his victory over Rafael Nadal in ‘The Netflix Slam’, Carlos Alcaraz lauded the Spanish player and said he admired and wanted to emulate his fighting spirit.
In the live tennis match that was exclusively streamed on Netflix, Alcaraz defeated Nadal 3-6, 6-4 (14–12). Nadal had prevailed in the previous three meetings between the duo before this encounter.
Alcaraz told the audience that Nadal was his idol after defeating his fellow Spaniard. After that, he discussed the most important things he had learned from Nadal and how he planned to apply them to his play as his rivalry with Novak Djokovic grew.
Alcaraz explained what he admired most about Nadal: “I think the fighting spirit. He never gives up on any ball; he runs to every corner of the court, hitting amazing shots. I had a few match points before I got it. He made an unbelievable shot. He never gives up. I try to keep that for my game. That mentality he has. Finding solutions when things aren’t going well every time. It’s admirable of him. I try to keep it. I think everybody in life should try to keep it as well.”
After their match, Nadal also praised Alcaraz for continuing the Spanish tennis tradition. Nadal praised Alcaraz and said: “First of all, playing him is a big challenge. It’s completely different for different generations. In Spain, we should be very happy about having someone like Carlos.”
Carlos Alcaraz praises Rafael Nadal's fighting spirit:
"He never gives up on any ball, he runs to every corner of the court, hitting amazing shots. He never gives up. I try to keep that for my game." pic.twitter.com/ZlzRJr4t1b
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) March 4, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz in 2024
LWLLWWWWWW Currently the world no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 20th of February when he had to retire when playing against world no.113 Thiago Moura Monteiro in the 1st round and the scoreline was 1-1 .
Until now, during this year the Spaniard has managed to achieve a compiled 6-3 match record. Carlos Alcaraz’s most significant result of the current season was reaching the semifinal in Buenos Aires.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
Now the world no.652, Rafael played his last match on the 5th of January when he lost to world no.33 Jordan Thompson 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 in the quarter in Brisbane (draw).
During this season Nadal owns an overall 2-1 match record.
He is also scheduled to play in Barcelona (Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell). The main draw will start on the 15th of April.
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal faced off 3 times. Their actual record is 2-1 for Nadal. Previously, the last time they fought against each other, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-2 1-6 6-3 in the quarter in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) in May 2022.
Here are the highlights.
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal |
| Embed from Getty Images |
