Rafael Nadal always amazes with his dedication and his hunger for victories.
Rafael Nadal kept an eye on one of Carlos Alcaraz’s training sessions in Cincinnati, as he took a chair on the court away from the sun. The moment was recorded by a fan and posted on Twitter. “Rafa watching over Alcaraz,” said the caption.
Carlos Alcaraz is scheduled to play the first round against American McDonald. World number 4 Carlos Alcaraz believes a good performance is expected of him at the Cincinnati Masters, but he is prepared for it. Alcaraz is currently one of the top five players and the big favorite to win the tournament wherever he goes.
Alcaraz, who won four titles in the first five months of the season, has not won since Madrid, although he has appeared in two finals since. After winning his second Masters title in Madrid, the pressure increased and that has affected Alcaraz.
“Right now, I take every match as a challenge to remain the same as always. I’m number 4 in the world, one of the favorites to win this tournament, so it’s a bit difficult to handle the pressure. But I am training to the maximum.
I’m training with the goal of getting better and trying to produce the game that I produced during the clay season and in Miami. It’s a challenge for me to be the same,” Alcaraz said before his campaign in Cincinnati, according to the ATP website.
Rafael Nadal lost to Borna Coric in his opening match at the 2022 Cincinnati Open on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal lost to Borna Coric
“It’s true that this tournament hasn’t been the easiest for me during all my tennis career, even if I was able to win one year.
But was the year that I was achieving almost everything. I make a couple more semifinals, I think, or one. Is true, I don’t know, for some weird reason this tournament, I never had the best feelings, but in the other hand, I felt very welcome here all the time,” Rafael Nadal said.
However, the 36-year-old has fared much better when competing across the country at the US Open. “In terms of New York, I don’t know. It’s a Grand Slam. It’s a different kind of tournament. But at the same time it’s tennis, no? If I am not playing well, probably I will follow the same route than here,” he stated. With the loss, Nadal’s bid to regain the World No. 1 has been pushed back by a few weeks.
