Tennis needs history to repeat itself, Rafael Nadal believes. The current dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner must be challenged, the former Spanish star says.
“We’re missing someone who can push them a bit more; someone who puts more pressure on them because, right now, they’ve created a huge gap with the rest,” Nadal said in an interview with El Larguero on Cadena SER radio.
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Just as Novak Djokovic arrived to push him and Roger Federer when the Spaniard and the Swiss were absolute rulers of the tour until the late 2000s, Nadal explained why another force is needed to destabilise the duopoly.
“When they’re more or less focused, Alcaraz and Sinner are capable of winning with almost any version of themselves… until they face each other. It would even be good for them to feel they need to play well to reach the finals,” said the former world No. 1, who spent 209 weeks at the top.
“From the outside, you think: ‘even if they play badly, they’re still going to win.’ That shows how good they are, but also that maybe we’re missing a sharper Zverev, or a more consistent Medvedev — they’ve both been especially inconsistent this year. That would add more incentive,” he added.
Any other candidates?
Nadal was asked about Joao Fonseca, and the Spaniard preferred to temper expectations about the Brazilian’s future: “We’ll see what happens. He’s very young, he’s just arrived, and he’s not in a position yet to be part of those comparisons. We’ll have to see how he evolves.”
