Rafael Nadal to Play in “6 Kings Slam” Exhibition Event in Saudi Arabia

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is headed to the Middle East this fall.

The 37-year-old Spanish professional tennis player, the former World No. 1, is set to play in an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia in October, the kingdom’s latest move into tennis.

Nadal will be joined by Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, new Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune in what’s being touted as the “6 Kings Slam” in Riyadh.

All but Rune have won at least one Grand Slam title. Djokovic holds the men’s record with 24, followed by Nadal with 22. Alcaraz has two, and Sinner and Medvedev one apiece.

Nadal was recently announced as an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation.

The ATP men’s tour moved its annual tournament for leading players who are 21 and under to Jedda, and the WTA women’s tour is in negotiations to put its season-ending championship in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has pumped huge amounts of money into sports, such as soccer, Formula One, boxing and golf, with critics accusing the country of using its Public Investment Fund to engage in sportswashing over its human rights record, including the treatment of women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The kingdom denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.

Carlos Alcaraz Wins ATP Awards’ Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is officially a great sport…

The 20-year-old Spanish professional tennis player has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

The award, which Alcaraz earned a year after becoming the youngest No. 1 in the history of the ATP rankings, recognizes fair play, professionalism and integrity on and off the court.

“I’m so happy to win the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award,” said Alcaraz. “I’m especially happy that it’s an award chosen by my colleagues on the circuit. It means a lot to me, so thank you all very much.”

Alcaraz becomes the fourth Spaniard to receive the prestigious ATP Awards honor, joining Jose Higueras (1983), Alex Corretja (1996, 1998) and five-time winner Rafael Nadal (2010, 2018-21).

He has now won three player-voted ATP Awards, receiving Newcomer of the Year in 2020 and Most Improved in 2022.

Rafael Nadal & Carlos Alcaraz to Headline Netflix’s Live Tennis Event “The Netflix Slam”

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are heading to Netflix for a special slam…

The 37-year-old Spanish tennis superstar and the 20-year-old Spanish tennis phenom will headline The Netflix Slam, the streaming services tennis match.

Nadal and Alcaraz will take part in the event on Sunday, March 3, 2024, as it streams live from Las Vegas, where it will take place at the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

It’s the latest live event for the company after The Netflix Cup, a live golf event featuring folks froms Drive to Survive and Full Swing.

The Netflix Slam will be produced by Full Day Productions. Full Day produced The Netflix Cup.

The event will stream live as a dual broadcast for English and Spanish audiences.

There will be additional games as well as the Alcaraz and Nadal matchup.

“I’m honored and so happy to be sharing the court with Rafa in Las Vegas,” Alcaraz said. “He’s an all-time great, of course, and his records and achievements speak for themselves.”

“I’m very excited for my first visit to Las Vegas,” Nadal added. “I’m also very excited to be playing with my fellow countryman Carlos Alcaraz. I am sure it will be a fantastic night of tennis.”

Carlos Alcaraz Nominated for ATP’s Sportsmanship Award

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is a good sport…

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player has been nominated for the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time in his career as part of the 2023 ATP Awards.

Alcaraz will face off against fellow first-time nominees in the category: Jannik Sinner, Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz.

Alcaraz was the ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2020. He was also the ATP Player of the Year and ATP Most Improved Player of 2022.

Alcarez’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, meanwhile, has been nominated for Coach of the Year.

The 43-year-old Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player and current tennis coach is nominated for helping coach Alcaraz to a 65-12 record. Alcaraz defeated four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final, 1–6, 7–6^(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4 to win the gentlemen’s singles tennis title at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. It was his first Wimbledon title.

ATP Awards winners, including Fans’ Favorite, will be revealed during Awards week, starting December 11.

Here’s the complete list of 2023 ATP Awards nominees:

Comeback Player of the Year: The player who has overcome serious injury in re-establishing himself as one of the top players on the ATP Tour.

Dominik Koepfer
Gael Monfils
Jan-Lennard Struff
Alexander Zverev

Most Improved Player of the Year: The player who reached a significantly higher ATP Ranking by year’s end and who demonstrated an increasingly improved level of performance through the year.

Matteo Arnaldi
Christopher Eubanks
Ben Shelton
Jannik Sinner

Newcomer of the Year: The #NextGenATP player who broke into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in 2023 and made the biggest impact on the ATP Tour this season.

Flavio Cobolli
Arthur Fils
Alex Michelsen
Dominic Stricker
Luca Van Assche

Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award: The player who, throughout the year, conducted himself at the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness and who promoted the game through his off-court activities.

Carlos Alcaraz
Grigor Dimitrov
Hubert Hurkacz
Jannik Sinner

VOTED BY COACHES

Coach of the Year: Nominated and voted on by fellow ATP coach members, this award goes to the ATP coach who helped guide his players to a higher level of performance during the year.

Craig Boynton (Hubert Hurkacz)
Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi (Jannik Sinner)
Juan Carlos Ferrero (Carlos Alcaraz)
Goran Ivanisevic (Novak Djokovic)
Bryan Shelton (Ben Shelton)

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Daniil Medvedev to Advance to Semifinals at ATP Finals

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz has advanced to his first ATP Finals semifinals…

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player beat Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to secure a spot in the semifinals of the ATP Finals in his tournament debut, setting up a match against top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

“It’s one of the most difficult challenges that I’m going to face, facing Novak in the ATP Finals, where he has won six times,” Alcaraz said. “Novak is Novak. He is the best player in the world right now. He’s lost just six matches this year. He’s unbelievable.”

Alcaraz and Djokovic have played each other four times and won two each. Djokovic won their most recent encounter in the final in Cincinnati in August, while Alcaraz was victorious in the Wimbledon final.

“I’m going to play my best tennis and enjoy it the same way I did the past few matches,” Alcaraz said. “I’m excited to face Novak.”

Alcaraz is the youngest ATP Finals semifinalist since Rafael Nadal in 2006.

After missing last year’s tournament because of an abdominal injury, Alcaraz got off to a shaky start at the season-ending event for the year’s top eight players.

He lost his opening match to two-time champion Alexander Zverev before getting back on track with a straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev.

That left him needing to beat Medvedev, who had already qualified for the semifinals, to advance. The Russian player didn’t make it easy.

Medvedev had two break points in the fourth game, but Alcaraz came out on top of a 33-shot rally and then produced another big serve before going on to hold.

In the seventh game, Alcaraz broke Medvedev to love for the lead. He then held three set points but needed only one to take the opener with a powerful, crosscourt backhand.

After wasting two break points in the third game of the second set, Alcaraz got the decisive break when Medvedev double-faulted to allow him to serve for the match.

“This match was really, really tough … but everything I did before this match I did almost perfectly so I’m really happy,” Alcaraz said.

With Alcaraz advancing, the top four players in the world have qualified for the semifinals. Medvedev will face Jannik Sinner. Since the ATP formed in 1990, it’s the fourth time the top four players all reached the semifinals at the ATP Finals, along with 1990, 2004 and 2020.

Carlos Alcaraz Placed in Red Group for This Year’s ATP Finals

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz will be seeing red…

The 20-year-old Spanish professional tennis player has been placed in the Red Group for the ATP Tour’s year-end ATP Finals tournament. The draw for the season-ending, eight-man finals was made Thursday.

Coming in as the second seed, Alcaraz will face Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev in the round-robin stage.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic has been placed in a group with home favorite Jannik Sinner for the ATP Finals in Turin, where he needs to win just one match to end the year as world No. 1.

Djokovic will also face Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune in the Green Group for the round-robin stage.

The top two from each group advance to the semifinals.

Djokovic is bidding to win the event for a seventh time and has not lost a match since his defeat to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final in July. He currently shares the record of six victories with Roger Federer.

Zverev has won the tournament twice, while Medvedev and Tsitsipas have one victory apiece.

The tournament starts Sunday, and the final is scheduled for November 19.

Carlos Alcaraz Outlasts Hubert Hurkacz to Reach Western & Southern Open Men’s Final

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a Wimbledon rematch for Carlos Alcaraz.

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player and World No. 1 erased a match point in the second set and rallied past unseeded Hubert Hurkacz 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the semifinals on Saturday to reach the Western & Southern Open final.

In Sunday’s final, Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic, defeated Alexander Zverev, the 2021 tournament champ, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to earn a shot at his third title in the US Open tuneup.

Alcaraz won six straight points in the second-set tiebreaker to reach his eighth final of the season. He beat Djokovic last month at Wimbledon to win his second major title and deny Djokovic his 24th.

Alcaraz is the youngest Cincinnati finalist since 19-year-old Pete Sampras in 1991. He’s trying to become the youngest champion since Boris Becker won at 17 in 1985.

Despite going to a third set in each of his four matches this week, Alcaraz says he’ll be ready for the final.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m playing third sets or long matches, I’m recovering really well,” Alcaraz said. “I feel like I’m going to play the first match of the tournament. I feel great.”

Last week in Toronto, Alcaraz needed two tiebreakers to beat Hurkacz after losing the first set.

“Playing against Hubert is always tough,” Alcaraz said. “We played until the final ball. I was really happy to get that win today. He’s one of the best servers in the tour.”

Djokovic, 36, is the oldest Cincinnati finalist in the professional era, dating to 1968, surpassing 35-year old Ken Rosewall in 1970.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that Alcaraz and Djokovic will participate in the group stage of the Davis Cup finals next month.

Alcaraz and Djokovic were included in the teams announced Monday by Spain and Serbia, respectively, for the competition that will be played September 12-17 in Valencia, Spain.

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Max Purcell to Advance to Cincinnati Open Semifinals

Posted on August 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz has advanced to the semifinals…

The 20-year-old Spanish professional tennis player and tournament’s top seed staved off an upset bid by Australian qualifier Max Purcell, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to earn a rematch with Hubert Hurkacz in the Cincinnati Open semifinals.

“I didn’t know him so much before the match,” Alcaraz said of Purcell. “He impressed me a lot. It was really tough for me. I’m really happy to get through.”

It was the third time this week that the Wimbledon champion needed three sets to win.

The top-ranked Alcaraz needed two tiebreaks to beat Hurkacz last week in Toronto.

“When we played in Toronto, we had a great match,” Alcaraz said. “Here in Cincinnati, the court’s a little faster than Toronto. So it probably suits better to his game. We need to be at the best level to beat him.”

In the nightcap on center court, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic beat ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz 6-0, 6-4. Djokovic will face Alexander Zverev, the 2021 tournament champ, in the semifinals on Saturday.

Carlos Alcaraz to Face Novak Djokovic in Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

The budding rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will be renewed in the group stage of the Davis Cup finals next month.

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player and Djokovic were included in the teams announced this week by Spain and Serbia, respectively, for the competition that will be played on September 12-17 in Valencia, Spain.

Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in July. The Spaniard is No. 1 in the world, with Djokovic sitting at No. 2.

Spain and Serbia have been drawn in the same group along with the Czech Republic and South Korea. Group stage matches will also be played in Bologna, Italy; Manchester, England; and Split, Croatia.

The top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to the finals in Malaga, Spain, in November.

Alcaraz will lead a Spain team that will include Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Roberto Bautista Agut and Marcel Granollers.

Djokovic’s Serbia will also have Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic, Dusan Lajovic and Hamad Medjedovic.

Nine of the current top 20 players in the world have been called up for their national teams — Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti for Italy, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul for the United States, Alex de Minaur for Australia, Cameron Norrie for Britain and Borna Coric for Croatia.

Andy Murray will also play for Britain, which faces Australia, France and Switzerland in Manchester. The Swiss will count on Stan Wawrinka, while France will have Adrian Mannarino and Nicolas Mahut.

Leo Borg, son of 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg, was included in Sweden’s team that will face Canada, Italy and Chile in Bologna.

Mackenzie McDonald, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram were also included in the American team that will play against the Netherlands, Finland and host Croatia in Split.

Sebastian Yatra to Perform at This Year’s U.S. Open

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Sebastian Yatra is headed to Flushing Meadows…

The 28-year-old Colombian singer will be making a special appearance at this year’s U.S. Open.

Yatra received a personal call from tennis star Carlos Alcaráz inviting him to join him at the Grand Slam tennis tournament.

Yatra will perform “Vagabundo” at the Sound of the Open show on August 25 in New York.

“Let’s go,” responded Yatra to the invitation. “But you’ll have to sing the song with me. Thanks for the invite. I’m excited to see you again.”

Tickets to show can be purchased here.

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