Wimbledon – Rafael Nadal ennobles “Champion” Carlos Alcaraz: “You have given us immeasurable joy”

Alcaraz is only the third Spaniard after Nadal (2008 and 2010) and Spanish tennis legend Manolo Santana (1966) to win the All England Championships at Wimbledon.

“A big hug and enjoy the moment champion,” Nadal wrote on social media. “Certainly our pioneer in Spanish tennis, Manolo Santana, cheered wherever he is,” said Nadal in reference to the four-time Grand Slam winner, who died in Marbella in December 2021.

Last year’s finalist Nick Kyrgios congratulated both Alcaraz and Djokovic for their “incredible performance”. The Australian, who lost to the Serbs in the final on Church Road in 2022, has not watched a full tennis match for a long time. In the epic exchange of blows on Sunday afternoon, Kyrgios couldn’t switch off either. “Thank you Novak and Carlos,” he wrote on Twitter.

Kyrgios: Alcaraz a “freak”

During the match, the man from Canberra took his hat off to the performance of Alcaraz and described the Murcian as a “freak”.

Opponent Djokovic also praised his opponent after the thriller on Church Road. In the on-court interview after the match, the Belgrade once again showed himself to be a fair sportsman and bowed: “I thought I would have problems with you on clay and hard court, but not on grass. But that’s a different story now,” he laughed: “Incredible how you adjusted to this surface.”