In many ways, Carlos Alcaraz took the torch from Rafael Nadal when he retired from the sport in 2024.

Nadal dominated the Spanish tennis landscape for nearly two decades before Alcaraz arrived as a fresh-faced tennis towards the end of the 2010s.

As Nadal’s playing career was coming to an end, Alcaraz began to make a name for himself on the ATP Tour. He was a four-time Grand Slam winner by the time the Spaniard called time on his playing career.

As a result, Nadal has always talking positively about Alcaraz and looked after him as he has made his way at the very top of men’s tennis.

Following Alcaraz’s exit at the Shanghai Masters, Nadal has publicly backed the Spaniard once again and he’s taken issue what some people are saying about the star recently.

Reported by Kalshi Tennis, Nadal took issue with Alcaraz being dubbed a ‘prospect’ in tennis.

More Carlos Alcaraz news

“He’s not a prospect. He has seven Slams so he’s definitely not just a promise for the future,” explained the King of Clay, who played doubles alongside Alcaraz at the Paris Olympics.

“He’s already a legend. If you look at the historic greats in Slams there aren’t many who have seven. Calling him a prospect makes no sense.”

What Nadal is saying is absolutely correct. Alcaraz has already outstripped some of the biggest names in the sport when it comes to Grand Slam titles.

He already holds more Grand Slam titles than the likes of Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker and the same number as Mats Wilander and John McEnroe.

On top of that, he became the youngest player to achieve the Career Grand Slam earlier this year after he lifted the Australian Open title for the first time in his career.

The star has already been year-end world No 1 on two occasions and collected a further 20 ATP Tour titles.

At 23 years old too, Alcaraz has plenty of chance to continue collecting the very best titles in tennis for at least another decade.

Alcaraz is not anywhere near close to be considered a prospect at this point in time. He’s been fighting at the very top of the ATP Tour for half a decade and he shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.

The star will look to claim two tournaments he’s never won in his career in the coming months too, at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, so his career could become even more bountiful before the 2026 season is out.