Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez believes Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal can have a big clay season and expressed his hope to see an Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic match at Caja Magica this May. Last year, Alcaraz defeated Nadal in the Madrid quarterfinal before edging out Djokovic in a thriller semifinal match.
The Alcaraz and Djokovic Madrid meeting went down as one of the best matches of the 2022 season. “I trust that Nadal and Alcaraz will do well in the next tournaments. Hopefully, Carlos will play with Djokovic again in Madrid and we will also have Rafa, who if he is healthy, will surely fight again for the big titles.
In 2023, there is no clear favorite on clay,” Lopez told Spain’s EFE news agency.
Lopez feels Spanish tennis is in good hands with Alcaraz
At the age of 19, Alcaraz is already a Grand Slam champion, he is a three-time Masters champion, and has been ranked at No 1.
Alcaraz, who will be turning 20 in May, is being tipped by Lopez to make a lot of more success before he retires. “Carlitos, Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is a little older, are the tennis players I like the most.
Carlos and Jannik, whose battles are extremely tough, will be the ones who will lead world tennis in the future and I’ll stay with Alcaraz because he does a lot of different things on the court, with a wide variety of strokes, and I really enjoy watching him.
He is a chosen one, someone with charisma who has reached No 1 at the age of 19, having just won a Grand Slam and who has very good values and transmits joy,” Lopez said. Meanwhile, Alcaraz is missing next week’s Monte Carlo Masters due to injury.
Alcaraz is expected to return to action at the Barcelona Open, which starts on April 17th. In early May, the Madrid Masters is taking place. It remains to be seen if Alcaraz can defend his Madrid title this year.
