Stefanos Tsitsipas has faced both Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz on the courts and he certainly sees some similarities between them.
Spanish tennis has been dominated by Rafael Nadal for many years but as age starts to become a factor, younger generations are taking over. Chiefly among them is Carlos Alcaraz who actually replaced Nadal as the youngest ever in several categories. He also replaced him as champion in Barcelona last year, a campaign which saw him best Tsitsipas along the way.
He definitely offers a lot to our sport. And when he's around, you can feel his presence and his energy and how hard he works for every point. And his spirit, the spirit that he puts out on the court is an example.
This will be the second year in a row Nadal misses Barcelona as he last played in 2021 when he won the trophy by beating Tsitsipas in the final. His presence is missed this year but there is Alcaraz who will fly the Spanish flag high. Tsistsipas can actually see similarities between him and Nadal.
'We have someone that looks a little bit like him, which is Carlos Alcaraz, in terms of how he gets to every ball on the court and how he covers pretty much half of the planet when he plays. So they have a lot of similarities, and I think he [Alcaraz] could be the next Rafael Nadal of our tennis.
Tsitsipas played Alcaraz last year in Barcelona ending up as the losing player in that one and they could certainly play once more this year. Both are in the draw and both are excellent clay players so a deep run would not be a surprise from either.
Alcaraz won his first match here against Borges in straight sets while Tsitsipas is set to play against Cachin later today.
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