The only time Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz have met in the ATP circuitthe Murcian melted like a custard before the imposing figure of the legend that he had on the other side of the court, the tennis legend with whom he has been compared so much. Alcaraz, who turned 18 that May 5, 2021, succumbed 6-1 and 6-2 in Madrid, without resisting. Things have changed a lot since then. Charles has won varios top-ten: Tsitsipas, Berrettini, Sinner, Ruud… And those markers, or similar ones, are the ones he achieves against his rivals, already settled among the 20 best on the planet, and in unstoppable growth. To who Indian Wells, has not yielded a single set. What’s more, he hasn’t even needed a tie-break in his four matches. In the second one he shook Roberto Bautista, number 15 in the world and 2 in Spainby 6-2 and 6-0, in a generational pulse that will repeat this Saturday, but doubling the bet, against number one in history: Nadal. It will be a duel of present against future, past against present, past against future, present against present… The battle of the times.
Nadal has taken a very different path his rival in this first Masters 1,000 of the course. The Balearic, limping, has been seen suffering with his physique, with his game, with his service… He has given up two sets in his four matches, he has needed four tie-breaks to advance. He has suffered, and a lot, before Korda, Opelka y Kyrgios… Especially against Korda, whom he miraculously lifted the match. But there it continues, pulling by trade, resilient and resistant. Pure Nadal essence. His winning record at the start of the season has grown to 19-0, with three titles already in the pocket. Invincible. The image that both have projected during their respective careers in California could lead us to think that Alcaraz is the favorite. In any other case it would be so. Not with Nadal in front.