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Melbourne (Australia).\u2013<\/strong> The Spanish former tennis player Rafael Nadal<\/strong> returned this Saturday to the Australian Open<\/strong> for the first time since his professional retirement, as part of a tribute to his career, and took the opportunity to express his support for Carlos Alcaraz<\/strong> ahead of Sunday’s final, despite the historic rivalry that unites him with Novak Djokovic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may be interested in:<\/a><\/strong>An epic Alcaraz wins a dramatic match against Zverev and will play his first final in Australia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\nNadal explained that his main wish is to enjoy the match without the competitive pressure that marked his career. “It will be a pleasure to watch the final live. I am no longer in a professional mindset and what I want is to enjoy a great battle and high-level tennis,” he commented to a small group of international media.\n\nThe winner of 22 Grand Slam titles acknowledged the special bond he maintains with Djokovic, currently number four in the world, whom he defined as a rival with whom he has shared an “incredible story.” However, he admitted that the national factor weighs in his choice. “Carlos is Spanish and that means that, if I have to support someone, it will be him,” he pointed out.\n\nNadal also highlighted the close relationship he maintains with Alcaraz, with whom he has shared recent experiences in the Spanish team and at the Olympic Games. Even so, he made it clear that a victory for the Serbian would not be a cause for frustration. “If Novak wins, I will be happy for him. What he is doing is spectacular,” he said.\n\nNadal’s return to Melbourne coincided with the fourth anniversary of his memorable triumph in the 2022 Australian Open final against Daniil Medvedev<\/strong>, one of the most emblematic matches of his career. However, the Majorcan downplayed the past. “I don’t usually live on nostalgia. That was very beautiful, but now I enjoy this stage of my life from another point of view,” he expressed.\n\n\n Regarding the semi-final played by Alcaraz against Alexander Zverev<\/strong>, Nadal highlighted the emotional component of the match and the ability of the player from Murcia to overcome physical adversity. He considered the appearance of cramps in high-tension matches normal and valued the effort shown by both players.<\/p>\n\n\nLikewise, he showed confidence in Alcaraz’s recovery after a semi-final of more than five hours. “I am sure that he will recover well. I even think he has more chances of doing so than Novak,” he pointed out, taking into account the demands of the other semi-final and the age difference between the finalists.\n\nNadal also reflected on the influence of previous generations on new talents and on the legacy of his generation. In his opinion, his generation helped to prolong the longevity of professional tennis, changing the perception of the age limit to compete at the highest level.\n\nFinally, he referred to Jannik Sinner<\/strong>, number two in the world, after his elimination against Djokovic, highlighting his mental strength and pointing out that both victories and defeats are part of the learning process in the elite of tennis.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Melbourne (Australia).\u2013 The Spanish former tennis player Rafael Nadal returned this Saturday to the Australian Open for the first time since his professional retirement, as part of a tribute to his career, and took the opportunity to express his support for Carlos Alcaraz ahead of Sunday’s final, despite the historic rivalry that unites him with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[37570],"tags":[611,40231,41186],"class_list":["post-499033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-tennis","tag-deultimominuto","tag-dominican-republic","tag-theperiodicodelatruth"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-25OV","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","dum_api":{"author_name":"EFE","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1200px-EFE_logo.svg-96x96.png","categories_name":["Tennis"],"featured_media_url":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}