Toni Nadal says only one player can thwart ‘unstoppable’ Carlos Alcaraz’s rise

Shahida Jacobs
A happy Carlos Alcaraz with the Wimbledon trophy
Carlos Alcaraz Wimbledon celebrations

None of Carlos Alcaraz’s peers are capable of preventing his “unstoppable rise” with Novak Djokovic the only man who can challenge him, although the Serbian “does not have too many years left”.

That is the opinion of Toni Nadal, tennis legend Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former coach.

Toni, of course, is one of the all-time great tennis coaches as he mentored Rafael from his debut in 2005 until 2017 and during that period the Spaniard won everything there is to win in tennis.

But while Nadal will always be one of Spain’s most-beloved sons, there is a new name on everyone’s lips in the European country as Alcaraz has dominated the scene over the past year.

On Sunday, the 20-year-old became only the third Spaniard after Nadal and Manolo Santana to win Wimbledon, defeating 23-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in a brilliant five-set match.

For many the result signalled the changing of the guard as Djokovic has dominated not only at SW19, but tennis in general over the past few years.

Alcaraz is certainly the future of tennis and Toni Nadal feels, besides Djokovic, none of the other players can stop his rise.

“Honestly, I don’t see any tennis player on the current scene, with the exception of Djokovic, capable of stopping Carlos’ unstoppable rise,” he wrote in El Pais.

“Djokovic does not have many years left and I think that Spanish fans will have the opportunity to enjoy many more matches and celebrate many more victories on both hot and cold Sunday afternoons.”

Djokovic turned 36 in May and some feel that his age showed during the titanic five-set battle on Centre Court on Sunday.

Toni Nadal was once again impressed by the tennis great’s ability to fight until the end.

“Djokovic demonstrated, once again, his willingness to fight and his great tennis quality,” he wrote.

“Despite being 16 years older than his rival and finding himself in an unfavourable situation, he continued to cling to the match and raised his level, adjusted his shots more and managed to prevent Carlos from closing the final without giving himself a last chance in the final set.”

He added: “Although it is true that the difference in age (16 years) gave the Spaniard a certain advantage, when we reached this fifth set I thought that certainly either of the two players could win.”

However, the writing was on the wall when Alcaraz broke early in the fifth set.

Nadal continued: “From this moment until the end, with the Spanish fans with their hearts in their fists, Alcaraz had the serenity, poise and courage necessary to face these last games and win the coveted trophy.”

READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz’s 2023 tennis schedule: Where is the Wimbledon champion playing next…

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