Carlos Alcaraz set up two spectacular matchups with just one victory over Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Six Kings Slam.
Nadal will retire from tennis at the 2024 Davis Cup Final 8, meaning that the exhibition tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the penultimate tennis tournament of his career.
Since he was seeded into the semi-final round, the Spanish legend knew that he would get to play at least two matches at the event held during the Riyadh Season, as there will also be a third-round match held at the 2024 Six Kings Slam.
Alcaraz has ultimate respect for Nadal, who he grew up watching, so getting to play his idol once more after his retirement announcement was certainly something that the youngster enjoyed.
Prior to this meeting, he said that he wouldn't take it easy on the 22-time major winner, and he certainly didn't, as he flew into this match, winning the first eight points of the match.
That gave him a quick 2-0 lead, but his 38-year-old stopped what started to look like a catastrophic development by winning one of his service games, putting himself on the scoreboard.
Still, Alcaraz was overwhelmingly good in the first set, and it never looked like Nadal had a chance to win this match or even a set. But it likely wasn't about that for him or for the fans watching.
With Nadal's frequent health struggles in recent months, the Spanish legend certainly wanted to test himself against the best and find out where his level is, and he certainly managed to do that.
At times, the 14-time French Open winner was able to produce spectacular shots, with some maybe even wondering if he didn't announce his retirement too early. At other times, however, it was more than clear that Alcaraz was the much better and, importantly, the much younger player.
The 21-year-old won the first set relatively easily, 6-3, but Nadal had some moments of brilliance, which was enough for the crowd at The Venue, which heavily supported Nadal the same way they supported Novak Djokovic in the previous semi-final match.
But like in the first semi-final match, their support wasn't enough to beat the youth on the other side of the court. Alcaraz broke his opponent's serve relatively early in the set again, and that was enough for him to control the match.
Not facing a single break point throughout the match, Alcaraz controlled the remainder of it with ease, winning 6-3, 6-3 to set up a final clash with his young rival Jannik Sinner.
On top of that, Alcaraz set up one more spectacular matchup. Since the 2024 Six Kings Slam also features a third-round match, Nadal will take on his old rival Djokovic for one final time before retiring.
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