Carlos Alcaraz has been previewing the rest of his season, after a stuttered start laden with injuries.
Despite his youth, already the Spaniard has suffered two different ailments which have now ruled him out of a few different tournaments.
First, rolling his ankle in Rio saw him falter, before a recent forearm injury saw him bow out of Monte Carlo and Barcelona and garnered the worry of Roger Federer’s former coach.
He will hope to brush these setbacks aside as soon as possible, especially with three Grand Slams and the Olympics on the horizon.
Carlos Alcaraz wants to do one thing with Rafael Nadal
Speaking to Marca ahead of his Madrid Open campaign, Alcaraz answered plenty of questions, from his upcoming matches to ones not for months.
After all, intrigue is only natural with the youngster seeking to claim his first French Open title, defend his Wimbledon crown, and it also being an Olympic year.
Well, the latter is naturally the main talking point, with Alcaraz actually seeking to focus on the doubles.
That should come as no surprise when he revealed who he wants to play with, as he noted: ‘We haven’t talked about it.
‘I have coincided with him these days, in the last tournaments, and the truth is that I have not dared to tell him. I don’t know, it’s something that would make me very excited, it would be a dream and that’s why it scares me.
‘Having to tell him imposes on me. I know that he is excited to play with me. I have already said a thousand times that it would be a very big thing to play doubles with him in my first Olympics.’
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal would be a dream doubles partnership
Alcaraz, the young prodigious Spaniard who is expected to uphold the next generation of tennis.
Nadal, the legendary Spanish superstar who has won it all and is enjoying what many believe to be his final year on tour.
What a combination it would be, both for Spain and the world, almost certain to dominate at the Olympics.
That is if the 20-year-old can stump up the courage to ask the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
It would provide the perfect blend of experience and athleticism, as two physical monsters boasting a perfect right and left-handed balance for a doubles team; surely it would swoop gold with ease.
They might sweat on the fitness of Nadal, having just navigated his return to clay with two fierce matches at Barcelona. A run in Madrid now awaits to see the true measure of his fitness.
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