By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, November 15, 2024
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Carlos Alcaraz is committed to a primary mission to honor the hero Rafael Nadal.
Win the Davis Cup in Spain this month.
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Wimbledon winner Alcaraz shared his aim to oust Nadal with a final championship at the ATP Finals in Turin today.
“It’s the last tournament of the year for me, probably one of the most special tournaments I’ll play,” Alcaraz told media in Turin after his 7-6(5), 6-4 loss to Alexander Zverev. . “Rafa’s last tournament, I will be able to be by his side in the last moments on a tennis court for him…
“It’s a tournament I want to win one day. When I was a kid, I would dream of winning the Davis Cup, for Spain. This year we have a really special chance to win it.
“I will try to help the team to win the Davis Cup for me. But I think it is most important for Rafa, for his last tournament. I really want him to retire with a title. It will be with him really, really emotional and a really special tour for me.”
Spanish captain David Ferrer labeled Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreño Busta, Marcel Granollers AND STILL in the squad for the Davis Cup Final 8, set for November 19-24 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain.
Clay king Nadal is already training in Malaga ahead of his farewell event.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, who partnered Nadal in a stunning Nadalcaraz doubles dream team at the Paris Olympics last summer, said the clay-court king is not only his idol but an inspiration young Carlitos to pursue a pro tennis career. “
“He’s been my idol since I started playing tennis. I look up to him,” Nadal said of Alcaraz. “Proudly, thanks to him, I really wanted to become a professional tennis player.
Losing him, in a way, will be difficult for us, so I will try to enjoy as much as I can when he plays.
