Rafael Nadal backs Carlos Alcaraz to win Madrid Masters

On Monday night, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz met at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid. Asked about the Madrid Masters favorite, Nadal picked his Olympic Games doubles partner as a player to beat if he recovers from an injury.

Carlos will seek his third Caja Magica crown. World no. 3 conquered Monte Carlo and reached the Barcelona Open final, struggling with a muscle injury and falling to Holger Rune in straight sets. Alcaraz should recover by Saturday and chase another notable crown in front of the home fans.

¡Carlos Alcaraz 🇪🇸 es campeón del Masters 1000 de Madrid! Barrió 6-3 y 6-1 a Alexander Zverev 🇩🇪 (ganador 2021) y sumó su 4° título ATP en el año. Se cargó al 4°, al 1° y al 3° del mundo en tres días. Todavía no tiene 20 años.pic.twitter.com/HI8Hkm5vSg

— VSports Team (@VSportsTM) May 8, 2022

Alcaraz is 15-2 at the Madrid Masters. He debuted in 2021 and defeated Adrian Mannarino in the first round, taking Rafa’s record away and becoming the youngest match winner in tournament’s history. He faced Nadal in the second round and experienced an early injury en route to a tough loss. 

A teenager went all the way a year later. He outplayed Rafa in the quarter-final and took down Novak Djokovic a day later after nearly three hours and 40 minutes! Thus, Carlos became the first player to beat Rafa and Novak at the same clay-court tournament.

Alcaraz battled for the title against Alexander Zverev and outplayed the German 6-3, 6-1 following an impressive display. The Spaniard defended the title in 2023. He stormed over Zverev in the last 16 and bested Karen Khachanov and Borna Coric en route to the final.

Carlos defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets, lifting another Caja Magica trophy and giving the home crowd something to cheer about. A year ago, Alcaraz prevailed over Struff in the last 16 before falling to Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final, experiencing his…