RIYADH: Carlos Alcaraz admitted Wednesday it will be a “difficult moment” facing “idol” Rafael Nadal on Thursday as the Spanish superstars clash for the final time.
Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, announced last week that he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.
On Thursday, however, the 38-year-old will take on Alcaraz for a place in the final of the “6 Kings Slam” exhibition event in Riyadh.
“Since I started to play tennis, I’m watching his matches. I look up to him and I grew up watching him. He was my idol, he is still my idol,” Alcaraz said on court after defeating Holger Rune 6-4, 6-2 to set-up an emotional meeting with Nadal.
“A really important person for my life, for my career and he was one of the reasons that I wanted to become a professional tennis player. Knowing he is going to retire is pretty tough for everyone, for me.”
Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, added: “I will try to enjoy sharing the court with him once again, but I think it is really difficult for everyone.”
Nadal and Alcaraz have met three times on the main ATP Tour with the soon-to-be retired veteran holding a 2-1 advantage.
The Spanish pair played doubles together at the Paris Olympics this year and they are expected to team-up again at the Davis Cup Finals.
Nadal also made his last singles appearance at the Games on the same Roland Garros courts where he won 14 French Open titles.
His Olympic singles campaign was ended by old rival Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Thursday’s other semifinal in Riyadh sees Djokovic tackle Australian Open and US Open champion Jannik Sinner.
World number one Sinner eased past Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Alcaraz will face ‘difficult’ clash with ‘idol’ Nadal
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Alcaraz will face ‘difficult’ clash with ‘idol’ Nadal
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
