Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz aiming to replicate Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's epic Wimbledon clash


Carlos Alcaraz has revealed he wants to replicate Roger Federer’s epic Wimbledon showdown with Rafael Nadal in 2008. The Spanish teenager is preparing to play at SW19 for the second time after reaching the second round last year.

Alcaraz has enjoyed an expeditious rise to the top of tennis this year after winning four titles. The 19-year-old was victorious at the Rio Open in February after defeating Diego Schwartzman in the final, before tasting success at the Miami Open at the start of April when he got the better of Casper Ruud in the showpiece event.

He went on to beat his compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta in the Barcelona Open final at the end of April, before seeing off Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev on his way to winning the Madrid Open last month. And he has been tipped to laden his trophy cabinet with Grand Slam silverware in the coming years.

Alcaraz has appeared at every major since the start of 2021 and reached the quarter-finals of last year’s US Open, before repeating the feat at this year’s French Open. And he is now targeting success at Wimbledon.

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The rain-delayed 2008 Wimbledon final saw Nadal and Federer go head-to-head in the showpiece event for the third consecutive time at the All England Club. Federer had won the 2006 and 2007 finals, with Nadal perhaps fearing he would never lift the trophy in the English capital.

But the Spaniard had thumped Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the French Open final just weeks before the Wimbledon showdown and was a man on a mission as he vied to get his hands on a first Grand Slam trophy outside of Paris. And he raced into a convincing lead on Centre Court as he won the opening two sets 6-4, 6-4. But Federer hit back by winning sets three and four on tiebreaks.

Both players produced scintillating tennis throughout the contest as Federer attempted to complete a stunning comeback. But Nadal held his nerve to win the final set 9-7 and lift the trophy.





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