They asked him to praise the new generation of champions and talk about how they raised tennis to a higher level… And then he started talking about Novak Djokovic!
During the Masters in Madrid, Rafael Nadal was asked one of the most common questions recently – has the level of tennis been raised to a higher and higher level? And was that rise accelerated by the arrival of Yannick Siner and Carlos Alcaraz? The answer probably surprised many.
“I don’t know. Of course, they are great players, but at the same time if you look at the fact that Novak Djokovic won three out of four Grand Slams last year and played in the final of the fourth… I mean, he is my generation and of course the younger guys are doing great things , but it should also be taken into account that the player of my generation is at a similar level. He is at the level at which we have played for a long time and there is still a lot of success. This confirms that tennis has outstanding new champions, but at the same time, things are not so much changed”, said Rafael Nadal.
Pointing out the obvious, that the old guard is still holding on and that Novak is to blame for that, the Spaniard still somewhat slowed down the story of the change of generations, regardless of the fact that both Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Siner have won one Grand Slam. And he believes that it will take some time for his and Novak’s “class” to retire.
In the previous two decades, Djokovic and Nadal formed one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sports, not just tennis. Together, they top the “All Time List” of Grand Slam tennis champions, with Novak at the top with 24 titles and Rafa in second place with 22. It will be many years, and possibly a decade, before anyone approaches such greats and earns the honor of entering with them in the same sentence.
The Spaniard has been struggling with injuries for a season and a half, and the good news is that he managed to play three matches in the last two weeks. In Madrid, Nadal outclassed the American teenager on Thursday and on Friday he will have a chance to play against Australian Alex De Minor, who eliminated him last week in Barcelona and sent him back to training to improve his form in preparation for his favorite tournament, Roland Garros, on which Nadal is the greatest ever to play, with an incredible 14 titles in Paris.
Tags: Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic young tennis players Siner Alcaraz Sports
