Alcaraz admits he is ‘worried’ about Rafa Nadal ahead of Paris 2024

Carlos Alcaraz collected his National Sports Award and has taken the opportunity to leave the door open to his dream: to play doubles with Rafa Nadal at the Olympic Games in Paris.

He has not hidden the fact that he is worried about the state of health of the Spaniard, who is not in Monte Carlo: “At the moment I don’t know anything about his state, about how he is. Obviously, as a Spaniard and a tennis fan, it worries me”, he said when asked.

“Let’s see how we get both he and I, in the end there are still four months. Anything can happen, but hopefully it can happen”.

The clay court season starts

Alcaraz arrives at the clay court season “with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement” after winning in Indian Wells and the role he played in Miami where we felt great “both on a tennis and emotional level”.

That is why he faces his next challenge, Monte Carlo, with positivity. He will then go on to the Godo in Barcelona, the Mutua Madrid Open, Rome and Roland Garros, where he has high hopes.

“Roland Garros is a very special tournament for the Spaniards because of what Rafa has achieved and for me it would be incredible to win it, even if it’s only once….. We’re going to try,” he said about his next appearance on the Paris clay.

And he didn’t stop there: “I’ve been growing. Two years ago, quarters; last year, semis; now we have this, the final or champion. We’re going to try”.

Historic figures and the birth of an Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry

Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, three tennis players who have been and remain legends in the sport as they were the first to reach or surpass 20 Grand Slams in their careers.

“We all know about the rivalry that Roger, Novak and Rafa have had, thanks to the fact that they have won tournaments, whilst others have improved”, he said about this rivalry.

“I’ve always said that my goal is to try to reach them, try to reach those numbers because you have to dream big.”

The best way to achieve it is the rivalry that is starting to emerge with Jannik Sinner: “I hope I can have that nice rivalry with Jannik, that I improve depending on him, and also that he pushes me to give 100 percent.

“Hopefully in the next ten years I can have that rivalry with him.”