Nadal says Alcaraz 'is going to be one of the best in history'

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz won his fourth major title on Sunday at Wimbledon and one day later, countryman Rafael Nadal gave the 21-year-old a ringing endorsement.

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

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

Ruudal ?

Can you come up with a better team name? ⬇️@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen | @CasperRuud98 | @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/7iL6FK9evJ

But on Monday in Sweden Nadal dove deeper into why he believes so strongly in the two-time Wimbledon champion, who swept this year’s Roland Garros-Wimbledon double.

“His level of tennis is super high,” Nadal said. “If he is able to stay away from injuries, of course Sinner is there. But I see him with Sinner over the rest today without a doubt. I don't see a lot of players that can stop him on Tour and I think the best thing that he has today is in every tournament that he plays, doesn't matter the surface, he is going to be the favourite.”

Nadal explained that in his generation, he was normally the favourite on clay, while early in his career grass was the domain of Roger Federer and hard was split between Federer and Novak Djokovic, according to the lefty.

“But no one player was the favourite before every tournament and today I feel that he has that 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] is difficult that somebody's going to beat him.”

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The 38-year-old this week is competing in the Bastad event for the first time since 2005, when he lifted the trophy as a 19-year-old. Since then, he has authored one of the best careers in the history of the sport.

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

“When you are 19 or 18 or 17, when I came here for the first time, I remember coming here and just playing with the friends, with Juan Monaco, with Carlos Moya, with Zabaleta, playing Playstation, going for dinner, a little bit of a party later. Different things,” said Nadal, who two decades later owns 1,075 tour-level wins according to Infosys ATP Stats. “When you are 38, life changes a little bit and you put more attention on how beautiful is the place, I even didn't remember how beautiful the place is when I came here now.

“I can tell you that when you are a little bit older, you get more interested in things. You are more interested in going around a little bit, to walk around next to the sea, to know a little bit more about the village. Last time that I was here, I was just 19, so [it is a] different world, I can tell you.”