Rafael Nadal will have one final battle with Novak Djokovic when they meet in the Six Kings Slam exhibition event on Saturday.
The Spaniard is retiring after next month’s Davis Cup finals in Malaga, bringing the curtain down on an incredible career.
His rivalry with Djokovic has been one of the mainstays of the sport for the last 15 years and there will be one final meeting in Saudi Arabia as the pair will face off in the third-place match.
It was a pleasure ☺️@CarlosAlcaraz @RafaelNadal #SixKingsSlam pic.twitter.com/VMRHCEHLyP
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 17, 2024
Nadal, playing his first match since the Olympics, was beaten 6-3 6-3 by compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final in Riyadh.
Djokovic, a runner-up in Shanghai last week, lost 6-2 6-7 (0) 6-4 to Jannik Sinner in the other semi-final.
It will be fitting that the pair get one more meeting, given their enduring battles over the years, with the pair meeting 60 times at ATP Tour and grand slam level.
لحظات حماسية لبداية مواجهة الأبطال رافائيل نادال وكارلوس ألكاراز في بطولة Six Kings Slam 🤩🎾
Thrilling moments as the champions Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz face off in the #SixKingsSlam 🤩🎾
شاهدها مجاناً على 👇🏻Watch it for free 📺DAZNSky Sports Bein Sports… pic.twitter.com/Qf5lCfKVL1
— موسم الرياض | Riyadh Season (@RiyadhSeason) October 17, 2024
“I feel very well supported and loved all around the world,” Nadal said on court after his loss to Alcaraz. “I am really very fortunate I have had a long and successful career.
“I am probably going to practise on Friday, I am trying my best every single day to be better and better, but I have Davis Cup in front in a month and every day is an opportunity to be better for that.”
Sinner and Alcaraz will continue their burgeoning rivalry in the final on Saturday, with the winner taking home a £4.5million prize.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here