Paris Olympics: Rafael Nadal hailed Carlos Alcaraz and called him the ‘best player in the world right now’.
In what is probably his swansong year, Rafael Nadal will be aiming to bag his third Olympic gold in Paris. The Spaniard will be taking part in the men’s singles event, and will also partner Carlos Alcaraz in men’s doubles.
The 38-year-old already has a singles gold from Beijing 2008, and also bagged a doubles gold in Rio 2016. Meanwhile, Alcaraz will be making his Olympics debut. If Nadal reigns supreme, it will be more special as the tennis matches will be taking place at Roland Garros, where he has won the French Open a record 14 times.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, Nadal was full of praise for Alcaraz, and revealed that he was ‘excited’ to partner ‘the best player in the world right now’.
“I’m excited to play with the best player in the world right now and the one who will be one of the best in history,” he said, while talking to Cadena SER.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz also hailed Nadal and said, “It is a dream to play with Rafa. It will be a memory that will remain engraved.”
Earlier, Nadal told Punto de Break, “My impression is that we are talking about a player who is going to be one of the best in history. That is my feeling. He is a player with enormous potential. Life can change quickly, that is the truth. You never know what can happen in the future, but today, if we have to predict what will happen in his career, we predict amazing things.”
Tennis fans will be extremely excited to see Nadal in action, who also has a potential second round clash against Novak Djokovic. Djokovic has been drawn against Australian Matthew Ebden and Nadal will take on Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, with the winners of those matches meeting in the next round.