Carlos Alcaraz has warned Rafael Nadal that he will not hold back when they play each other for the final time at the Six Kings Slam. Alcaraz breezed past Holger Rune in the quarter-finals on Wednesday to set up a blockbuster last-four meeting with Nadal.
The young Spaniard eased to a comfortable win over Rune, not facing a single break point over the course of the two sets. The result means Alcaraz will face his idol and compatriot Nadal for a place in the final against either Novak Djokovic or Jannik Sinner.
It could be Nadal’s last-ever match on a singles court, with the 38-year-old planning to retire after the Davis Cup Finals in November. Alcaraz, however, is not intending to go easy on the king of clay when they do battle in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
“I’m going to go full power,” said Alcaraz in his on-court interview after beating Rune. “I’m not surprised that he’s playing at 100 per cent in practice, hitting the ball super hard and feeling it really well.
“The player he is, the legend he is, it doesn’t matter that he stayed away from tennis for three or four months. He’s going to be back as strong as ever before. I’ll try to play good tennis if I want to beat him. I’m going to go full, without fear.”
Alcaraz went on to emphasise the huge amount of respect he has for Nadal, saying: “Since I started playing tennis, I watched his matches. I looked up to him. I grew up watching him. He was my idol, and he is still my idol.
“He’s a really important person for my life and for my career. He was one of the reasons why I wanted to become a professional tennis player.”
The reigning Wimbledon champion did not need to get out of second gear against Rune despite finding the playing conditions at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh more difficult than usual.
“For me, it’s a little bit tricky in these conditions,” he admitted. “The ball flies a lot, bounces a lot, but I enjoyed my tennis, and I enjoyed my time on this court, and I enjoyed every single second on this court.
“It’s been a really good year for me. A little bit of a rollercoaster. Big tournaments that I won this year, but at the same time, there were tournaments where I didn’t play as I wanted.”
