Rafael Nadal revealed several years ago he was told that there was "someone very good" coming up in Spain and he realized that was true after hitting the practice court with current world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz during the 2021 Australian Open.

Carlos Alcaraz likely just played his tennis idol Rafael Nadal for the last time in their professional careers during Thursday's semifinal match of the Six Kings Slam. Although the score makes it look like Alcaraz ran away with the match at 6-3, 6-3, the 21-year-old admitted he still had to play his best in order to beat the 22-time major champion.

The 38-year-old Nadal, who announced last week he would retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in November, lost 6-3, 6-3 to the 21-year-old Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the Six Kings Slam event in Saudi Arabia.