Carlos Alcaraz lost at the 2024 Shanghai Masters, but he dismissed the idea that Rafael Nadal's retirement news would impact his game.
The 21-year-old Spaniard was on a 12-match winning streak when he reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. It seemed like he was unstoppable, but there was one man who wanted to change that.
Tomas Machac played an incredible match and beat Alcaraz in two sets, 7-6(5), 7-5, to set up a semi-final clash with the reigning World No. 1, Jannik Sinner. The Czech player played an incredible match, and Alcaraz recognized that.
"I feel like I was playing against a top-5 player, not even top 10, no, top 5, his level, it was so high. I thought that he was going to give me an opportunity, a window, but he didn't."
Only shortly before the match, Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis. As someone who idolized the fellow Spaniard, Alcaraz was shocked by the news.
He was seen watching Nadal's retirement video shortly before he walked onto the tennis court, but speaking after his loss, the four-time major winner dismissed the impact of the news on his loss to Machac.
"Well, it was, honestly, I couldn't believe it when I watch it. You know, it doesn't affect me at all before the match. I didn't get distracted at all, I was just really focused on the match, I didn't think about Rafa's news."
Still, despite saying that it didn't impact him at all because he was focused on the match, Alcaraz admitted that it was a shock that was tough to accept for him.
"But obviously, when I watched it, it was tough to accept it. I was in shock a little bit. Thanks that I saw it like one hour before the match, so I had time to accept it and forget it a little bit before the match."
"It is a really difficult thing, really difficult news for everybody, and even tougher for me. He has been my idol since I started playing tennis. I look up to him. Proudly, thanks to him, I really wanted to become a professional tennis player."
Luckily for Alcaraz, he will get to spend more time with Nadal than anyone else in the coming weeks. Both of them are set to compete at the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia, and then, he will be Nadal's teammate during his retirement event.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will retire at the 2024 Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga, Spain, which will run from November 19th to 24th. If it ends up being a doubles match, Alcaraz might even be part of Nadal's retirement match.
"Losing him, in a certain way, is going to be difficult for us, so I will try to enjoy as much as I can when he's going to play. But we are going to play in Saudi Arabia, and then Davis Cup, so I'm going to try to enjoy as much as I can the time with him, but, yeah, it is a shame for tennis and for me."
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