Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal react during a match at the Paris Olympics.(REUTERS)
Carlos Alcaraz and his team members were visibly emotional after Rafael Nadal’s retirement announcement.
Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis on Thursday, drawing curtains on an illustrious career which saw him win 22 Grand Slam titles. The Spaniard took to social media to share the news with his fans, and thanked everyone for their support.
Since then many current and former players have taken to social media to congratulate Nadal on his retirement. A video has also gone viral, where Carlos Alcaraz can be seen watching Nadal’s announcement on a cellphone, alongwith his team members. All of them appeared emotional after the video, considering Nadal’s legendary status.
Revealing that Nadal’s decision came as a shock, Alcaraz said, “Well, it was, honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I watch it. You know, it didn’t affect me at all before the match. I didn’t get distracted at all, I was just really focused on the match, I didn’t think about Rafa’s news. But obviously when I watched it, it was tough to accept it. I was in shock a little bit. Thanks that I saw it like one hour before the match, so I had time to accept it and forget it a little bit before the match.”
“It is a really difficult thing, really difficult news for everybody, and even tougher for me. He has been my idol since I start playing tennis. I look up to him. Proudly, thanks to him, I really wanted to become professional tennis player. Losing him, in a certain way, is going to be difficult for us, so I will try to enjoy as much as I can when he’s going to play,” he added.
Nadal’s final tournament will be the Davis Cup finals this November in Malaga, where Spain take on Netherlands in the quarter-finals. It will be his first appearance since the Paris Olympics, and will also mark an end to a legendary career.
