Carlos Alcaraz will get a chance to play against Rafael Nadal one more time in his tennis career after he beat Holger Rune at the 2024 Six Kings Slam.
With the 2024 Six Kings Slam's exhibition format, organizers had a chance to prepare potential semi-final matchups at the event held during the Riyadh Season, and they picked very well.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were seeded into the semi-final matches, and while Djokovic could play against the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev, Nadal was drawn against either Alcaraz or Rune.
The World No. 1 player set up an exciting clash with Djokovic, which will be a rematch of their Australian Open meeting this year, as well as of their Shanghai Masters final clash from last week.
On the other side of the draw, Alcaraz was able to set up a clash with Nadal, his idol and player with whom he shared the court during the recently concluded Paris Olympics.
To do that, he had to beat Rune, and he did it with ease, not facing a single break point throughout the match. The Spaniard had a break point already in the first game of the match, but after he couldn't use it, he had to wait until the ninth game to have another one.
He created that break point chance after his opponent had a nasty fall while chasing one of the balls. Ruhlessly, the four-time Grand Slam champion was able to convert it and later win the first set 6-4.
Alcaraz also had a break point in the opening game of the second set, and this time, he managed to use his chance. He added one more break after that to lead 4-1 and then 5-1.
Obviously, the Spanish prodigy didn't lose that big of an advantage, as he relatively easily won the match 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals at the 2024 Six Kings Slam. Speaking after the match, he admitted that he struggled a bit with the conditions.
"For me, it's a little bit tricky in these conditions. The ball flies a lot, bounces a lot, but I enjoyed my tennis, and I enjoyed my time on this court, and I enjoyed every single second on this court."
The interviewer, Andrew Castle, also asked the 21-year-old to summarize his 2024 season, which, as he described, was a real rollercoaster with plenty of success but also some disappointing moments.
"It's been a really good year for me. A little bit of a rollercoaster. Big tournaments that I won this year, but at the same time, there were tournaments where I didn't play as I wanted."
Up next, Alcaraz will play against his childhood idol, Rafael Nadal. Naturally, he also talked about the legendary Spaniard, who will retire at this year's Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga, Spain, making this his penultimate event.
"Since I started playing tennis, I watched his matches. I looked up to him. I grew up watching him. He was my idol, and he is still my idol. He's a really important person for my life and for my career. He was one of the reasons why I wanted to become a professional tennis player."
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