Carlos Alcaraz to go 'full power' against Rafael Nadal in Six Kings Slam semi, Jannik Sinner dismantles Daniil Medvedev
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Updated 16/10/2024 at 21:43 GMT+1
Carlos Alcaraz will face Rafael Nadal in semi-final of the inaugural Six Kings Slam, a lucrative exhibition tournament held in Riyadh. The Spaniard beat Holger Rune in straight sets to book his final-four spot. Earlier, Jannik Sinner put in a stellar performance to knock out Daniil Medvedev. The Italian did not drop a game in a devastating opening set, eventually leading to a Medvedev meltdown.
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Carlos Alcaraz insisted he will go "full power" against idol Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of the Six Kings Slam after sweeping aside Holger Rune 6-4 6-2.
The Spaniard grew into the contest, seemingly struggling to deal with the bounce of the hard-court in Riyadh initially, before accelerating away from his Danish opponent.
The prize at the finish line was a fourth meeting with Nadal and a chance to even the head-to-head scores at 2-2 before his compatriot retires after the Davis Cup Finals in November.
But Alcaraz insisted he will not take it easy against the 38-year-old in Thursday evening's semi-final, despite the close bond the pair share.
"I'm going to go full power," said Alcaraz. "I'm not surprised he's practising and he's 100%, hitting the ball super hard, feeling the ball really well.
"I'm not surprised at all, because of the player he is, the legend he is. It doesn't matter that he stayed away from tennis for three, four months. He's going to come back stronger than ever before.
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"So I'm going to try to play good tennis if I want to beat him, but I'm going to go full without fear."
The winner of the exhibition tournament in Riyadh will bank a breathtaking £4.6 million, so there should be no doubt about Alcaraz' motivations for beating his Olympics doubles partner.
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Nonetheless, the world No. 2 stopped short of calling it a privilege to face off against his close friend and "idol" so close to his retirement.
"I grew up watching him. He was my idol, is still my idol. It is a shame that he announced that he's going to retire from tennis. He's a really important person for my life, for my career," said Alcaraz.
"He was one of the reasons that I wanted to become a professional tennis player, so knowing that he's going to retire from tennis is pretty tough for everyone, for me.
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"So I don't know if it is a privilege, playing against him once again or if it's going to be tough for me. But I will try to enjoy sharing the court with him once again, but I think it's really difficult for everyone."
Alcaraz, who revealed he had already met up with Nadal in Riyadh off the court, needed a late break of serve to win a tightly-contested first set against Rune.
But once he found his rhythm, the Dane crumbled in the second, as Alcaraz secured an immediate break before conceding just five points on his serve to close out the match.
Sinner dismantles frustrated Medvedev
Jannik Sinner underlined his world No. 1 credentials with a supremely dominant 6-0 6-3 win over Daniil Medvedev in the Six Kings Slam quarter-finals.
With his semi-final victory at the Shanghai Masters, the Italian confirmed he would close out the calendar year at the top of the world rankings.
Sinner went on to beat Novak Djokovic in the final of that event, and he will face the Serb once more in the semi-finals of the exhibition tournament in Riyadh.
Medvedev was little more than a bystander in the opening set, winning 15 of 46 points and pushing Sinner to break point just once.
By the time the Russian had a game on the scoreboard at the start of the second set, he had committed seven unforced errors, including a brace of double faults.
Frustration eventually overcame the world No. 5 as he struggled to recover from a mid-set break from Sinner.
Medvedev pushed his opponent to four break points at 3-4 down, but launched his racquet to the court on multiple occasions when the elusive break failed to materialise.
The 28-year-old's meltdown shortly preceded a fifth break of serve from Sinner, and the final act to a decidedly one-sided contest.
And Sinner was impressed with his own performance, given the short turnaround from his triumph in Shanghai.
"It was a very good performance considering I arrived just a couple days ago, not even. And I only had one practice session," said Sinner.
"It's obviously a very nice moment for me. I worked very hard in my very young career to be in this position and this is from many, many years of work.
"This is what I love about being a tennis player, now I can enjoy every moment."
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