To celebrate the end of Rafael Nadal's historic career at this week's Davis Cup Final 8, ATPTour.com is publishing a series of articles paying tribute to the Spaniard. View our #RafaSiempre series.
“We’ve achieved so many amazing things together, now it’s up to you to continue doing them.”
As he looked at his teammates from the centre of the court, the sincerest words spoken by Rafael Nadal at his farewell ceremony on Tuesday were addressed to the new generation of talent. In particular, one member of that group will be bidding to maintain and extend the legacy the Spaniard leaves behind: Carlos Alcaraz.
At 21 years of age, Alcaraz has equalled many of his childhood hero’s records for precociousness. He has already been the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, won four Grand Slam titles and donned an Olympic silver medal.
“For us young players coming up, who have many years ahead of us, we’ve been lucky to see the era of Rafa, Federer and Djokovic, although [Novak] is still playing... that battle between those three gladiators, players who aren’t from this planet,” said Alcaraz.
“But, at the same time, I’ll also say that [Rafa] has left a lot of people with the hope of seeing what is to come. In a way, if those of us that are here, the young players, those coming up behind him cannot reach that level, it will be seen as frustrating or disappointing for the world of tennis."
[ATP AWARDS]Alcaraz has always avoided any kind of comparison, but the media and tennis fans alike have inevitably pointed to the parallels between Alcaraz and Nadal.
“I’m going to try not to look at it like that, I’ll simply do my best every day,” he offered. “As Rafa said, he is ending his career happy and satisfied in knowing that he gave his all from the start until the final day of his career, and that’s what I’ll try to do. I’ll try to give my best, to be the best person and player I can every day, at every tournament, every year.”
Alcaraz was there to see Nadal’s final stretch on the ATP Tour, maybe not for as long as he would have liked, but at the 2021 Australian Open he practised with his compatriot for the first time and a few months later he celebrated his 18th birthday with his first match against Nadal at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Their Lexus ATP Head2Head includes a total of three matches, all in ATP Masters 1000s; in Madrid (2021, 2022) and Indian Wells (2022). But perhaps their most special memory together will be when they shared the same side of the court, representing Spain in doubles at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
“I’m lucky to be close to him, to have played doubles with him, to have practised with him, to have shared a Davis Cup team with him and the locker room in singles tournaments – not as much as I would have liked – I wish I’d arrived on tour earlier,” Alcaraz said.
But destiny has no respect for ones desires, and so it was that on the night of Tuesday 19 November Nadal definitively relinquished his crown and Alcaraz took the baton, but not without a caveat.
“We’ll see at the end of my career, but if it’s half of what he’s done I’ll be more than happy," Alcaraz said. "’m going to try and entertain people and leave a good legacy every day. It’s going to be very tough to follow what these giants have done.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]