By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday March 17 2022
With Carlos Alcaraz threatening to upset Cameron Norrie at Indian Wells (he leads by a set), we could see the first all-Spanish semifinal in tournament history.
Rafael Nadal, who defeated Nick Kyrgios 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 on Thursday afternoon, would be Alcaraz’s next foe.
The 35-year-old Spaniard, who continued his best ever start to a season by improving to 19-0 on the season, had nothing but kind words for Alcaraz in his post-match press conference.
“He has a great team next to him, I think,” Nadal said of the 18-year-old phenom, who is currently ranked 19 in the world. “I think he's unstoppable in terms of his career. He has all the ingredients. He has the passion. He has the, he's humble enough to work hard. No, he's a good guy.
“He reminds me a lot of [myself] when I was a 17- or 18-year-old kid. I think he has the passion. He has the talent and the physical component that it's great.”
Nadal, who was seen checking the scores of Alcaraz’s match, which was playing on a television in the room during his post match press conference on Thursday, says he is thrilled to see such a special talent coming out of Spain.
That said, he hopes that Alcaraz doesn’t get too big too fast. Nadal wants to defeat him on Saturday to make the final (if they play), after all.
“I am super happy, even, of course it's going to be a great rival for now and for the next couple of months, without a doubt. But thinking and being selfish, it's great, honestly, to have such a star from my country, because we, for the tennis lovers, we're going to keep enjoy an amazing player fighting for the most important titles for the next, I don't know how many years, a lot of years.
“That's my feeling, from my point of view. That's fantastic for the tennis lovers and he's a countryman and he's a great guy. So I like him. I wish him all the very best. Probably not after tomorrow he plays against me, but in general.”