The young Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz said that his performance on Saturday against Rafael Nadal, whom he put on the ropes in the Indian Wells semifinals, shows that he is at the level of the best in the world.
“I take it from this tournament that I am ready to continue growing, to be among the best,” said Alcaraz after falling to his idol 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3.
“I think I have the level to be in the top-10 and I have shown it in this tournament by beating very good players and making it difficult for Rafa,” said the Spaniard, who at 18 was the youngest semifinalist of this Masters 1000 since Andre Agassi in 1988.
Until Saturday, Alcaraz, number 19 in the ATP, had not given up a single set on an amazing tour of Indian Wells in which he won the reigning champion, Cameron Norrie, in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Alcaraz was able to match a starting set against and demand to the maximum the tennis player with the most Grand Slam titles in history in front of nearly 16,000 spectators who mostly supported his rival.
“In the first set I played very nervous. He was playing against Rafa and me,” he acknowledged. “But then it was very close (...) In the second and third I said to myself, 'Okay, I'm playing against Rafa but I'm going to show my level'. I'm going to give 100% to be able to beat him or be close to beating him.”
“At times I thought I was able to beat him but Rafa has a thousand lives. If he was down, he is able to play at a high level in difficult times,” he said.
“A couple of times I smiled a little at Rafa's incredible points. I think I enjoyed the game even though I lost,” he said with another smile.
After the loss to former number one, who will play the final against American Taylor Fritz, Alcaraz is already looking forward to the next challenges of the season.
“Now I've played more matches against top-10 players, great matches in big stadiums,” he emphasizes.
“I think I'm ready for battles now,” he said. “I'm more mature. I know how to control emotions and how to play against these types of players.”
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