Carlos Alcaraz’s competition ‘quite low’ compared to Rafael Nadal’s, says tennis great’s uncle
Rafael Nadal’s uncle, former Spain and Barcelona defender Miguel Nadal, says the 22-time Grand Slam winner faced stiffer competition compared to Carlos Alcaraz as he believes the latter has only one true rival in Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated the Grand Slam scene the past few years as they have shared the last nine majors on offer with Novak Djokovic the last player not named Alcaraz or Sinner to win one of the four biggest tournaments in tennis and that was back in 2023 at the US Open.
Meanwhile, when Nadal was at his peak, he had to contend with Djokovic and Roger Federer as they dominated men’s tennis, and although they won the majority of big tournaments, they also had other challengers.
Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic also won Grand Slams during the Big Three’s dominant period with Murray also ending their stranglehold on the top spot in the ATP Rankings as he finished the 2016 campaign as the year-end No 1.
In an interview with BetBrothers, Miguel Nadal – who won five La Liga titles with Barcelona and was capped 62 times for Spain – asserted that Alcaraz has it easier than his nephew.
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“We are talking about a player who has everything with Carlos Alcaraz. He has a great serve, a great forehand, a backhand, a powerful physique, he is fast and he handles pressure,” he said. “One positive aspect is that the competition is currently quite low.
“Today the only player who casts a shadow over Alcaraz is Sinner. In Rafael’s time there was Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin Del Potro, David Ferrer. With all those players you could face them in the quarter-finals or even the first round and they could eliminate you.
“Today, in Alcaraz’s case, there is a big difference. I don’t see a wide group of players who have options to win a Grand Slam. I think he is a player who will win many Grand Slams.”
Alcaraz won his seventh major title when he beat Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open final and Migual Nadal feels he can easily aim for more than 20 Grand Slams.
Nadal added: “He has the advantage of aiming for 20, 22, 23 Grand Slams. It is very complicated because it requires minimum consistency and mental strength to suffer a not very high wear.
“I see it as difficult, but it could be possible. He has all the conditions and, apart from the sporting ones, when it comes to competition I don’t see players emerging today who are clear contenders to win a Grand Slam.”
