Rafa Nadal said one good thing about nearing the end of his career is that he will not have to face Carlos Alcaraz too many times after the 37-year-old Spaniard lost to his compatriot in an exhibition match in Las Vegas on Sunday.Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, added that the future of Spanish tennis was in good hands with the 20-year-old. Alcaraz has already won majors at the US Open and Wimbledon and is ranked number two in the world behind Novak Djokovic."It’s a good thing that as a player I will not face him many times,” said Nadal, who expects to retire in 2024 after a series of injuries limited his appearances on the circuit."As a fan, I will enjoy watching him for many years hopefully."In Spain, we should be very, very happy about having someone like Carlos coming."He’s an amazing player. He’s only 20-years-old and he’s already won two Grand Slams and a couple of important tournaments,” Nadal told reporters.Nadal, who spent almost a year on the sidelines with a hip flexor injury before suffering a muscle injury at the start of this season, said he felt "much better than expected” during the exhibition match.Nadal and world number two Alcaraz are next in action at the Masters tournament at Indian Wells.Rublev retains ranking points and prize money after Dubai default appealAndrey Rublev will retain the ranking points and prize money earned at the Dubai Tennis Championships, despite getting defaulted from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct, after an appeal to the ATP.Rublev was defaulted by the chair umpire after a Russian-speaking official appeared to accuse him of using an obscenity, while he yelled at the line judge during his semi-final with Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik on Friday."The appeals committee concluded that, beyond forfeiting the match, customary penalties associated with a default – namely loss of rankings points and prize money for the entire tournament – would be disproportionate in this case,” the ATP said in a statement on Monday.Bublik lead 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-5 at the time, and was awarded the win despite saying that he was happy to continue, and went on to lose the final against France’s Ugo Humbert.Rublev’s fine of $36,400 for the code violation remains in place after the appeal, which took into consideration testimonies from players and officials and a review of video and audio material.
March 04, 2024 | 11:04 PM