Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed an outstanding return to form yesterday at the Madrid Open, as he eased past Alexander Shevchenko to set up a Round of 32 clash with Thiago Seyboth Wild.
The Spaniard stunned as as he played with a compression sleeve on his right arm, having missed the last two tournaments due to complaints over an injury to that forearm.
But there seemed to be no issues on the day, as he cranked out scorcher after scorcher to waltz to the win.
However, his post-match interview was still dominated by talk of Rafael Nadal, who too had played just a day earlier.
Carlos Alcaraz outlines Rafael Nadal plans for 2024
Speaking to the Tennis Channel immediately after his first-round win at the Madrid Open, where he brushed aside Shevchenko in straight sets, the 20-year-old was unsurprisingly delighted.
He always cuts a glowing figure, with his broad smile a staple of his interviews nowadays, but after such an emphatic victory after all his injury woes in 2024, this one felt particularly special.
And yet, the bulk of the talk was focused on another player and their potentially intertwined futures.
Rumours have been rife regarding his and Nadal’s proposed doubles partnership at the Paris Olympics this summer, with Alcaraz having remained coy thus far.
However, he was far more upfront this time, noting: ‘We didn’t [have a conversation]. We spoke just a little but he was in a rush for his training, I was focused on my match today.
‘But it’s a conversation that we have to do it and we’re going to talk to each other about the Olympic Games and whether we are going to play doubles or not.
‘But, if everything goes well, we are going to do it.’
The passing of the torch
Ever since Alcaraz burst onto the tennis scene, with remarkable fury I might add, it has always felt like he would be the natural successor to Nadal.
After all, as the next big thing in the sport once again hailing from Spain, his arrival came at the perfect time just as the 37-year-old was beginning to wind down.
His injury woes have been desperately unfortunate and so sad to watch, but now it seems like he is at least back and fit enough to play regularly.
We just hope that can continue until this summer’s Olympics in Paris, where he will get one final chance to grace Philippe Chatrier months after what is expected to be his final French Open.
And to do it alongside Alcaraz, would be perfect, finally passing over that torch before he likely rounds off his career like Roger Federer did, at September’s Laver Cup.
The Swiss superstar has already reacted to the news that Nadal will play at that event later in the year.
Whilst there is every chance that Alcaraz and Nadal would secure Olympic gold, should they form a partnership together, at the very least it will offer the young gem one final chance to observe and learn from the master, before venturing into the tennis world as the sole Spanish star left at the very apex of the sport.
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