The ATP Semi Finals are set to be played on Saturday at Indian Wells and there are two decent matches scheduled for the day.
Rafael Nadal - 2.5 games v Carlos Alcaraz: There are going to be plenty out there looking for a passing of the torch moment when the present and the future of Spanish Tennis face off in the Semi Final at Indian Wells.
No one can deny the obvious talent of Carlos Alcaraz who is into the top 20 of the World Rankings and that is something special at the age of 18 years old. In years past, a teenager breaking onto the Tour and climbing the Rankings was all the rage, but Men's tennis has become very physical and the feeling was that it would take players a lot longer to mature and be ready to compete with the very best players on the Tour.
Carlos Alcaraz is making a mockery of those feelings though and he is improving at a rate of knots every time he plays. Even moving between the hard courts and clay courts doesn't seem to bother him too much and he has been in dominating form in this tournament where the slower hard court conditions seem to suit him very much.
The serve is still a work in progress, but Carlos Alcaraz has stunningly broken in 57% of return games played in the tournament- the fact he has played three players Ranked inside the top 30 in his four matches at Indian Wells underlines how impressive that number is and Carlos Alcaraz was able to beat the defending Champion Cameron Norrie in straight sets in the Quarter Final.
An aggressive player, Carlos Alcaraz feels he is going to show a lot better against unbeaten Rafael Nadal than when they met on the clay in Madrid last year.
On that day, Rafael Nadal handed out a lesson to his young compatriot, but Carlos Alcaraz feels he has learnt plenty from the veteran in their practice sessions together. In fact they were on the practice courts together here at Indian Wells and that should stand the younger player in good stead, although it is still a big ask to beat Rafael Nadal at such a big event.
He has remained unbeaten, but Rafael Nadal has at least looked a little beatable here which should encourage Carlos Alcaraz.
Unlike the lower Seed, Rafael Nadal has not blown away opponents and that is largely down to the fact he has only found breaks of serve in 18% of return games played in the four matches here. You have to factor in the opponents though and the likes of Reilly Opelka and Nick Kyrgios are huge servers, although Carlos Alcaraz may take inspiration from Sebastian Korda who pushed Rafael Nadal all the way and was unfortunate to lose in three sets in the Second Round.
Unfortunately it feels like Nadal has been allowed to settle into the tournament now and I do think there will be an aura on the other side of the net that will be difficult for Carlos Alcaraz to deal with. I don't think he gets blown away like he did in Madrid, but Rafael Nadal has been serving slightly better than Carlos Alcaraz in this tournament and I think that may give the Australian Open the edge.
Carlos Alcaraz will see his time come, but I think the veteran Spaniard can stay on top of him here and just remind Alcaraz how much more work has to be done to compete with the very top names on the Tour.
MY PICKS: Rafael Nadal - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Andrey Rublev - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
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