Rafael Nadal doesn’t want to lose his hero status. In a new interview, Carlos Alcaraz discussed the impact of Nadal’s career on him and how he regularly watched his matches when he was a kid. Nadal was sure to send him an encouraging message and to wish him the best in his upcoming tournament.

The interview was conducted for the Cincinati Open, a tournament that will be hosted next summer. In it, Alcaraz is discussing his admiration for Rafa Nadal and how watching him play when he was a kid made him fall in love with tennis. “To be in the same table as the legend Rafa,” he said in the clip. “Rafa was my hero, when I was young and started playing tennis. To watch his matches and his finals, lifting the best trophies in the world.”

Nadal watched the video and sent him a comment. “Big hug and good luck in Turin!”

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Nadal and Alcaraz’s relationship

Over the past, Nadal and Alcaraz have been pitted against each other by the media. In one opportunity, Alcaraz made it clear that he didn’t see Nadal as competition. “Rafa is not my enemy. I say hello, I don’t see that competition. With the rest of the players, it’s the same. Beyond that relationship, I’ll try to keep being No 1,” he said, after achieving the number 1 spot at the ATP rankings.

When speaking about his career and tennis in general at the Movistar Arena, Nadal was asked about any piece of advice he would give to Alcaraz, and said, "It is difficult to advise him. I am very bad at advising because I have learned more from examples than from words. But if I had to tell him something, I would only tell him to keep improving or at least have the hope of doing it, which is what keeps you motivated.”