Alcaraz advanced to the final four of the Indian Wells Masters
On the morning of March 18, Beijing time, the 2022 ATP Indian Wells Masters ended the two quarterfinals in the men's singles first half. Spanish tennis champion Nadal beat Australian "bad boy" Kyrgios 7-6 (0), 5-7, 6-4, while his compatriot Alcaraz defeated defending champion Nori in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, and the two will meet for their second official meeting after last year's Masters in Madrid, fiercely competing for places in the final.
The 35-year-old Nadal is a tough man, riding the dust in the 2022 season, and has now won 19 consecutive wins, creating the best start in his career, and has won the three hard court championships in Melbourne, the Australian Open and Acapulco.
Born on May 5, 2003, Alcaraz was not yet 19 years old, but he had already established himself in the world of men's tennis. Under the tutelage of former world number one and French Open champion Ferrero, he won his first tour title at Umag last year, reached the quarterfinals at the US Open, and won the Forces nouvelles Finals.
In last year's match between old and new in Madrid, Nadal dominated the game, crushing Alcaraz, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, 6-2 with a bloodless blade. After the game, the Spanish rookie said: "This game has benefited me a lot, I have to learn how to fight against such a strong opponent, if I can play more of these games, as a tennis player I will grow faster." ”
In fact, Alcaraz has indeed grown rapidly, last year's Madrid leg was his first time winning the Masters, and just a few months later, on this trip to Indian Wells, he has continued to push his best record in the Masters to the final four. Alcaraz's instant world ranking jumped to 15th and would rise to 13th if he won the title.
Many tennis stars and experts predict that Alcaraz will reach the top of the Grand Slam title and world number one in the future, believing that he has the potential to become a great player, including Nadal. The 21st Grand Slam champion is not hesitant to praise the younger generation: "I am very sure that he will be a outstanding player, he not only has amazing talent, but also trains very hard, I can't think of any reason why he can't succeed." ”
Nadal
On the road to tennis, Alcaraz has always regarded Nadal as an idol, and one of the things that impressed him most about Nadal was his professionalism of not giving up: "Thank you Rafa, he taught me the importance of always keeping my morale high, from the first minute to the last minute of the game to give my all. Even though I knew it was almost impossible to do what Rafa did, it was still a huge motivator to keep moving forward. ”
To this day, Nadal remains the indomitable representative of the tennis courts. For example, this year, he fell behind 0-2 in the Australian Open final, and faced three consecutive break points in the third set of 2-3, 0-40, and defeated Medvedev. In the second round of Indian Wells, he turned the tables and defeated American rising star Koda after falling behind 2-5 in the decider and being doubled.
Alcaraz does have a lot of Nadal's shadow, they are all from Spain, the same young fame, the same natural power, the same full of fighting spirit. But Alcaraz said he didn't want to be called "Little Nadal" or "the second Nadal", saying in an interview during this year's Australian Open: "I just want to be Alcaraz myself, to be a humble and self-aware young man, I know what my dreams are and I am willing to work for it day in and day out." People pay attention to me because everyone loves stories of young fame, but I don't focus on that. ”
This is reminiscent of many tennis precedents. When Sharapova first debuted, she was called "the next Kurnikova" because of her amazing beauty, and Sharva repeatedly expressed disgust with this statement, and finally she also shut up with her strength and proud record to make people shut up. When Dimitrov was first born, he was awarded the title of "Little Federer" for a handsome SLR, but in the end, because the gap between the achievements of the two sides was too large, this nickname was gradually forgotten.
For Alcaraz, "Little Nadal" or "Next Nadal" is nothing more than a memory-enhancing label that people put on a new face when they see him, and there is no malice. As he spends more time in tennis, making a difference and developing his own style, this label will gradually be diluted, and perhaps a new "little Nadal" will appear.
Indian Wells' semi-final against Nadal will be a very good opportunity to test the results of Alcaraz's efforts over the past few months. 'I was very nervous when I played against him last year and I've trained with him a couple of times now and know better how to deal with him in the game.' Looking ahead to the semi-finals, Alcaraz said: "It's going to be a tough fight, but I'll try to enjoy it, and playing against my idol is not something that happens every day. I want to be at my best and do everything possible to seize the chance to win. ”
In 2003, Nadal, who came out of the Spanish island of Mallorca, had just made his first career in professional tennis, participating in the Masters for the first time, participating in the Grand Slam for the first time, and reaching the top 100 for the first time. That was the year that Alcaraz had just been born in Murcia, Spain. Nineteen years later, in 2022, Nadal stuck to the top group in professional tennis, and Alcaraz played the role of a challenger.
"No one can always be young, but there are always people young", just as Federer defeated Sampras at Wimbledon, Nadal came out to defeat Federer at the French Open for four consecutive years, djokovi's Strange Army suddenly broke Fina's rule, and the newcomers want to get ahead, they must take out their earth-shattering courage and fight a battle that changes the pattern. Alcaraz, are you ready?
(Text/He Song, Editor/Faye Wong, Photo/Visual China)