But he enjoys Indian Wells, staying at the home of the tournament owner, Larry Ellison, and playing golf regularly.

He could have skipped this tournament to rest and prepare for his beloved clay, just as he is skipping next week’s Miami Open. Nadal has worked his way through the draw here despite the chronic foot problem that ruined the end of last season for him and continues to cause him pain. Nadal is in the midst of a revival: undefeated this season at 19-0 after winning three tournaments, including the Australian Open by rallying from a two-set deficit in the final against Daniil Medvedev. “At some point, you just can’t hang in there anymore.” “He walked all over me, and not because I was tired, but because of his physicality,” Gaël Monfils, the French star, said of his loss, 7-5, 6-1, to Alcaraz on Wednesday. “Rafa’s been through all kinds of things and has been on the top for many years, and for him to make those kinds of comments is really inspiring.” “It means a lot to hear those kinds of things from Rafa about yourself,” he said in Spanish, which he speaks much more fluently than English. Nadal was a genuine teen prodigy who won the first of his 13 French Open singles titles at age 19 in 2005 and would most likely have won it earlier if injuries had not forced him to skip the tournament in 20.Īlcaraz’s smile was as big as his forehand when informed of Nadal’s comments. That is unusually high praise from Nadal, normally wary of adding to the burden of expectations on emerging stars, but he went further, explaining that Alcaraz reminds him of himself at age 17 or 18. “I think he’s unstoppable in terms of his career,” Nadal said. Win or lose on Saturday, Nadal believes Alcaraz is the real deal. “Carlos is not even the future he’s the present,” said Paula Badosa, the top-ranked Spanish woman and reigning singles champion in Indian Wells. Open last year, winning the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and then recovering from Covid-19 to win 11 of his 12 singles matches so far in 2022. Since their first meeting, Alcaraz has soared into the top 20, reaching the quarterfinals in his first U.S. Alcaraz needed treatment for an abdominal injury early in that match, but he was also nervous and impatient as he faced one of his idols.īut Alcaraz’s second match with Nadal, which will come on a gritty hardcourt on Saturday, could be considerably more compelling. Nadal, 35, is nearly twice Alcaraz’s age and defeated him, 6-1, 6-2, last year on clay on Alcaraz’s 18th birthday in the round of 32 at the Madrid Open. He will face Nadal, the ultimate Spanish tennis champion, who holds the men’s record with 21 Grand Slam singles titles and is unbeaten in 2022. After defeating Norrie, 6-4, 6-3, Alcaraz is into the semifinals for the first time at a Masters 1000 event. But potential and reality are converging quickly.

Nadal match today on tv