Veteran Rafael Nadal will clash with teen phenom and fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid on Friday. Top seed Novak Djokovic will also be in quarterfinal action against Hubert Hurkacz after the Serb got a third-round walkover.
(3) Rafael Nadal vs. (7) Carlos Alcaraz
The last time Rafael Nadal and teenager Carlos Alcaraz met was just six weeks ago on the hard courts of Indian Wells in the semis. It was during that match, contested in wildly high wind, that Nadal suffered a stress fracture to one of his ribs. The 35-year-old managed to win despite the clearly painful injury, but he proceeded to suffer his first loss of the season to Taylor Fritz in the final the following day.
Along with his elder countryman, Alcaraz is the dominant player of the season so far. He holds three titles so far and owns a 23-3 match record. He lost his first match at the Monte-Carlo Masters to Sebastian Korda but ran the board in Barcelona last week. If the No. 7 seed is feeling any fatigue from playing so much tennis, he hasn’t shown it yet in Madrid.
Nadal boasts a 2-0 record over Alcaraz, although the younger man got awfully close to taking him out in Indian Wells. A fully fit, in-form Nadal would probably continue to have the edge, as Alcaraz has had some inconsistent play in the past month. Nadal is not, however, in peak form just yet. The six-week layoff has dented his traditional mystique on clay. His form against David Goffin in the round of 16 was legitimately shaky; he had to stave off four match points before he finally closed it out in a deciding-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz is going to have an excellent chance to snag his first win over the 21-time major champion.
Cheryl pick: Alcaraz in 3
Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 3
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (12) Hubert Hurkacz
Top seed Novak Djokovic remains without a title in 2022. His decision to remain unvaccinated has rendered him ineligible to compete in any country that requires proof of vaccination for entry. It knocked him out of the Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Miami. He was a mere 5-3 on the season going into Madrid.
Hubert Hurkacz has quietly enjoyed outstanding success in 2022 so far. He kicked off the European clay season with a quarterfinal result in Monte-Carlo and he has at least matched that in Madrid. He has an 0-3 record against Djokovic, but given the Serb’s lack of match play Friday’s contest represents an excellent opportunity for the No. 12 seed.
Djokovic got from a walkover by Andy Murray in the round of 16. The other member of tennis’ Big Four had to withdraw from the tournament with a stomach bug. Of course, given Djokovic’s spotty tournament attendance, he could have used another match going into the quarters.
Cheryl pick: Hurkacz in 3
Ricky pick: Hurkacz in 3
WWW?
Initially I thought that Nadal should sit this one out because his chances of winning are slim and if he does come on top it might be even worse. He risks getting beaten by a main RG rival (Djokovic or Tsitsi) and, worse, diminishing his Rome (and maybe RG) chances.
However:
– he still lacks match play and it’s not a given that he goes far enough in Rome, so this is a perfect opportunity to tune his game against a RG title candidate
– he does not get many chances to play at home and fans would be disappointed if he skips this highly anticipated encounter
– Nadal losing today may give Alcaraz too much confidence ahead of RG. It would also reduce pressure on Rafa (unbeaten this year when healthy, etc.) and serve as extra motivation going forward.
In any case, Alcaraz is favourite today, but you never know. He must be getting mentally tired given how much he played this year. Also when playing in Madrid it is crucial to tame your shots and it looks to me like Carlos’ high risk high reward strategy may not pay off here. The balls travel faster, it’s not unthinkable that Rafa starts with all guns blazing, doesn’t have dips and gets the job done in 2.
Although Rafa has won Madrid 5 times, one of those being on indoors hard court before it changed to clay in 2009, he doesn’t particularly like the high altitude in Madrid so it’s not his best hunting ground compared to the other clay tournaments.
Rafa is working his way into match fitness and he has tried to manage expectations by saying although he is fully recovered from the rib fracture he hasn’t had much preparation before coming to Madrid. So we’ll see.
Much of Rafa’s woes yesterday came from his racquet with far too many UEs, by not quite getting his range right. But I have to also credit Goffin for playing an outstanding match and not letting up.
On Rafa playing Madrid, that’s what I expected he would do, precisely for match plays, regardless of whether he wins the title or not. It’s too risky not playing at Madrid and goes straight to Rome, when he may also lose there (thus short of match play).
It’s different from 2020 when he had little match plays but still won the FO, because he wasn’t coming back from injury at that time.
He may lose to Alcaraz or Djoko or Tsitsipas/Zverev or whoever, but at least he gets himself tested and knows what he needs to improve on, before getting ready for the FO.
These guys have the best losing sportsbetting system in the world. It’s both sad and comical.
Nadal and Djokovic in 3.
I wish they would stop having back to back masters.Rome starts before Madrid ends.
Honestly, I hate to c Rafa lose but for all the reasons cited it’s probably best if he loses to Carlos here!! It’s a tall order just coming from injury and having to navigate this brutal draw that he’s been dealt while others are just cruising!! OTOH, I would much rather him lose to Carlos than that Djoker!!! So it’s a bit of a dilemma for me so I’ll just leave it to the tennis Gods!!! Vamos Rafa!!
Dont be hard on yourselves. Getting them all wrong is just as valuable as getting them all right, providing you use that information to your advantage.
Yes. It’s like the real players getting badly beat as part of their learning process.
C Rafa is in trouble already!! Don’t think Rafa should be going all out to beat Carlos here!!! It’s not worth the win!!
Yes Rafa can’t hold his serve. This is not a good start. The last time he hurt his rib. He doesn’t need this. After a 3 hour match yesterday he doesn’t need to gut out another tough match.
But I do think it was the right thing to play in Madrid. He already missed Monte Carlo and Barcelona. He needed to play here and in Rome. It’s just bad luck that he had to come up against Alcazar again.
Struggling to hold serve every time is not going to do it. He is already down a break.
Yeah, this is not his best tourney, so like I said on another thread, as much as I hate to c him lose it’s best that he throws in the towel here rather than push too much and risk injury and on top of that lose to that Djoker!!!! He made the quarters so he does not lose points and then he can move on, work on his fitness and prepare for RG, which is the true prize!! I’m good with him losing here!!! Vamos!!
Aside: Its Alcaraz.
Alcazar is a pop group , but I believe theres a Spanish connection and a real place .
Why is Rafa struggling to hold his serve?
I think even if Alcaraz beats Rafa here, he’s not going to beat Djoko in the SF.
Djoko is playing very well imo, his serve is really a weapon when he needs it to get him out of trouble. Alcaraz makes too many errors imo even though he hits many winners.
Rafa is clearly not in top form, and he’s unwilling to hit to Alcaraz’s FH which I don’t understand why.
Alcaraz’s DHBH is > than his FH I feel, so Rafa should mix it up and hits to Alcaraz’s FH as well. Rafa’s hitting pattern is so predictable that Alcaraz is all ready for it.
That’s what happens to Rafa when he is unfit and lacking confidence! I have seen it happen all too well. Rafa”s already tamed expectations form the beginning so I don’t expect him to move up from here. However, u r right , don’t think Carlos will beat Novak, but this match will be lit!! 😂
That first set was pretty lopsided.
How many times has Rafa had him at 0-40? Yet he can’t break.
Both Djoko and Alcaraz could rely on their serve to get themselves out of troubles, Rafa couldn’t.
Rafa’s serve is really affected by this rib injury, I mean how many times he’s hitting his first serve into the net. Without a good first serve, it’s so tough for him to win a point.
Alcaraz has a fall, looks like he has hurt his ankle, hope it’s not serious.
Oh no!!! Damn it!!! Hope he’s fine!!! That’s last thing him and tennis fans need!!!
Rafa bp conversion rate is like Roger”s now!!! Abysmal!!!
Lucky,
This is what I was afraid of. That the rib injury would affect Rafa’s serve. He worked hard on his serve and it paid off at the AO.
Alcaraz seems to always be able to get out of trouble on his serve. Novak is a master at avoiding breaks of serve.
What’s going on has match been suspended?
Someone in the crowd is in medical distress.
Oh dear!!!
See Rafa broke!!! Let’s hope he consolidates till the end
Second set also lopsided. That was…very unlike the first set.
What is happening, 61?? Is Carlos injured?
I think that fall may have been more serious. Alcazar’s level had dropped before he fell. But since the fall he seems to be shaky. The commies noticed that Alcazar seemed to wobble on his left foot when he was serving. He is not playing at all like he was.
.
Rafa must realize that Alcazar is off. He has become more aggressive. He wins the second set easily.
If Alcaraz’s ankle is not OK, then I hope it’s Rafa who gets to the SF. A uninjured Rafa is > a injured Alcaraz, and I certainly don’t want an easy SF for Djoko.
Yes I agree. The last thing we need is Novak getting an injured player and maybe even a walkover.
Mona, did you see Alcazar fall? He had to call the trainer. I think he hurt his ankle. Then they had this delay because someone on the crowd was in medical distress.
But since Alcazar fell he hasn’t been the same.
We’ll definitely bcoz that was quite a switch from the 62 set not that Rafa is not capable! Hope he is ok though it would be quite a shame if he gets injured!
Things went back to normal. Alcazar must be feeling better. He got the break in the third set.
Well congrats to Alcaraz for the win. I hope he’s at 100% when facing Djoko in the SF. Not another walkover for Djoko please!
The commentators talked as if beating Rafa on clay these days is still very big deal, when Rafa has been losing matches on clay more often than in the past.
Djoko is playing better tennis than Rafa is now, so it would be tough for Alcaraz to beat him. I think Djoko will beat him in the SF and then goes on to win the title.
I think the commies are disgusting and dreadful. Rafa has not had the success in Madrid that he has had in other clay court tournaments. This is where he can be vulnerable.
Rafa got some match play. Now it’s on to Rome.
As the best player on clay ever shouldnt he cope with these high altitude conditions ?
Its still clay . Indian Wells has very similar conditions which suit him well enough .
But listening to the commies I thought it was silly to even suggest Alcatraz was the favourite for RG.
These commies making Alcaraz French Open favourite based on this win. Tch Tch.
How quickly do people forget what Nadal’s peak level looks like? This was not even close. Sure, Alcaraz is great and like I have been saying for a while he has a hugeee career ahead of him but, Rafa ain’t gonna let him steal the French open.
To me it is Rafa, Novak and Alcaraz in that order for RG.
VR,
Thank you! Always reasonable with great common sense. I almost gagged when the tennis channel commies said he would be the front runner for RG! What? Are they kidding? So desperate to find their next big thing.
Your top three are spot on. Novak isn’t going anywhere either. He seems to be getting into good form now. He certainly would not take kindly to being passed over for Alcaraz. Not with his giant ego!
Rafa was never going to win this. He hit what he needed from it. No sense risking injury and playing Novak. Anyone who thinks Rafa was evenly close to his best in this match is drinking koolaid!
The commies have forgotten what Rafa’s peak looks like for sure! If Rafa was not coming back from injury he could have won it.
NNY, yes exactly. But it happens so often that these pundits misread situations. Of his 13 RG titles, there have been many a times Rafa was not put as the no.1 favourite. Fine, he doesn’t care and neither should we. But, for instance, can you really not see Rafa not not being able to attack with his forehand and counter attack with good length? How many more matches do you need to see to judge that a player isn’t playing anywhere near their top level?
There was a time Rafa had 2 winners against 20 from Alcaraz. Yeah sure, I’ll quit watching the sport if you see anything remotely similar in RG.
Alcaraz is a big contender and CAN win RG. It is a no brainer that the favourite is a 13 time champion with 100+ wins.
I’ll do a breakdown of Rafa vs Alcaraz match-up to discuss how they stack up against each other.
Alcaraz is being ‘hyped’. Part of it is his management company. Part of it is that tennis desperately needs a new young star. None of the contenders so far have really worked out. Thiem won ONE slam with the Big Three awol, and promptly hit the skids for the next two years. Medvedev won ONE against a tired and disgruntled Djokovic. That’s the NextGen slam total to date and neither of the two can be considered ‘young’ any more. In tennis terms they’re middle aged.
I hate all the Alcaraz hype. It’s not doing the kid any favors in the long run. Maybe he’ll be great, but he’s not there yet and he’s got a lot of work to do to get there. I expect Djokovic to work him over in the semi.
Ramara,
I agree with you. Ultimately, the hyoe is not doing the kid any favors.He has more work to do. The way the commies on the tennis channel were going on about him, you would think he could walk on water!
I also agree that the NextGen has not exactly thrilled everyone.
VR,
I would love to see a breakdown of these two! People are acting like Alcaraz can do no wrong, but I don’t think he is invincible.
You know as you said Rafa is a 13 time champion at RG, that brought it home for me. No one can come close to what Rafa has achieved at RG. As long as Rafa is playing, he will be the favorite at RG. I know it doesn’t matter to him. But he has earned it.
I would be interested to know your thoughts on the state of Rafa’s game, if you think he can get to his peak level for RG.
Firstly, Alcaraz is a giant.Honestly the moment I saw him against Berettini this year, I was totally convinced he’ll be a slam contender going forward and will challenge many records in the future (barring major injuries).
He certainly isn’t invincible but yeah it is true he doesn’t have any gaping holes either.
Rafa will be fine. He was just struggling to control his spinny forehands. In these high altitude conditions, topspin shots travel deeper so he was perhaps conscious not to make errors and give his shots better margin by going CC and shorter (not always intentionally but instinctively). His flatter backhand worked pretty well for most part.
Normally when he is in the groove, he can adapt quicker but coming to the court without any tennis for 4 weeks is tricky.
He’ll come out much stronger in Rome.
I agree! He’ll be fine in Rome.
Rafa got 3 matches.. Madrid is not his ground to judge his form.. He will be fine as long as the foot and rib are fine..:-)
Very rarely madrid winners go deep in RG.
The rib is fine but what about the foot ? Hearing conflicting opinions on twitter…hearing rafa was just on fumes..
I’m least bothered abt the loss. I’m just worried abt injury
Congratulations to Carlos!!! Wishing him the best for the rest of the tourney!!
Rafa”s loss here is no big deal to me!!! What’s important is that he got match play and it says nothing about his chances at RG. Most times Rafa has lost and still won RG. As long as he is healthy and paces himself he’s the favorite for RG. And for me truth be told, I really want Rafa to win another Wimby!!! I think for me that would be the ultimate icing on the cake!!! Winning RG is really not here or there for me, I want another Wimby!!!! So now I can sit up and relax bcoz I no longer have a horse in this race. Vamos!!
I think rafa could be seeded 5 at RG. It’s a race between him and tsitsi for no 4. Tsitsi will start with a minimum 100 point advantage as he is defending qf from last year vs rafa defending win points.
5 is not bad..u avoid alcaraz in qf for sure . The issue is u can draw Novak in qf which will be bad..if he avoids Novak or tsitsi in qf..he is good
Alcaraz hit many winners but he also made many errors. He’s playing very aggressive tennis and the Madrid court plays more like a HC so it suits him well. He was struggling to beat his opponents at Barcelona when three of his matches went the distance.
I do think that had Rafa not suffered a lapse in concentration in his match with Goffin, and won the match in straight sets instead of three sets, he would be more confident coming into this QF.
In some ways Kecmanovic hits his shots like Alcaraz, hitting hard and with depth (he almost beat Alcaraz at Miami!) and Rafa was able to handle those shots. Rafa was hitting some excellent BHs in that Goffin match (if I’m not wrong), sadly he couldnt do the same in the QF, and was relying heavily on his CC FH instead.
Rafa’s lethal FHDTL, solid BH and good serve were no where to be found in the QF. If Alcaraz didn’t fall and hurt his ankle in set two, perhaps he could have won the match in straight sets. Alcaraz was back to his aggressive self in set three and Rafa simply had no answer for that!
Against Alcaraz, Rafa has to play his aggressive tennis to have a chance to beat him; playing a defensive game (and at a defensive court position way behind the baseline) is not going to do the job.
But the qn is why did Rafa not play well…why did he not produce the fh dtl ,the bh n serve ..was he too tired ? If it’s that ,it’s ok.
I hope it’s not something else
Well, the question is why Rafa’s game deteriorated so much in the lay-off time? He was playing great tennis on HC, beating Alcaraz in IW while playing with injury.
Hope Rafa’s level improve in Rome sufficiently for RG! And I do think Rafa lacking confidence plays am important role..
Vamos Champ!
It’s more to do with lack of confidence, as he’s coming back from injury, and also lack of match play.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with his game, when he could play well against Kecmanovic and Goffin, but with lapses of concentration when serving for the match.
Against Alcaraz, I think he’s too tentative, partly because he’s aware how good Alcaraz is. I do feel the three hour match Vs Goffin had taken a toll on him, he’s hitting his FH short, and not hitting too many BHs (when against Goffin, he hit some of his best BHs CC and DTL!). He went FHCC most of the times and hardly hit the FH DTL. It’s not an excuse for losing to Alcaraz, it’s just that Rafa needs his confidence in order to play well (even on clay his fave surface).
We must remember Rafa is 36, coming from injury and has other underlying issues like his foot, knee etc. Plus he also has tremendous pressure on him to always deliver especially on clay, and his reputation as “difficult to beat” always makes him a target!! Players come hard and strong at him playing inspired tennis so it’s not a miracle that sometimes Rafa succumbs!!!! I don’t always expect him to win especially on clay particularly at this point in his career!
Every year I hear ppl say look, Oh how I wish that Rafa could win AO and Wimby at least one more time, but we also expect him to be able to win FO as well!!! Cmon!!! I no longer have these expectations from Rafa!! If he wins FO, all well and good but we can’t expect him then to go on and win Wimby AND the US open AND AO!!! Me, as much as I hate to c Rafa lose, I am not stressing over FO anymore!!! Before he retires I would live for Rafa to win Wimby, and if it means he has to forfeit FO to do it, so be it!!!! Rafa continues to amaze every time he comes on the court, I am always proud of him, win or lose (even if I get mad), but my expectations of him can’t be what it was when he was a teenager or at his prime!! I have come to learn to accept this!! Vamos, my champ!!