Tennis-Sole searching: Alcaraz pays homage to Nadal’s footprint at Roland Garros

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By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz paused in a moment of quiet reverence before his French Open semi-final on Friday to take a picture of the permanent footprint tribute to his childhood idol and compatriot Rafael Nadal.

The 21-year-old Spaniard, widely seen as Nadal’s natural successor, pulled out his phone to capture the imprint honouring the 14-time Roland Garros champion and lingered in what appeared a moment of communion between tennis generations.

“Having a little bit of Rafa Nadal on Philippe Chatrier (court) while I’m playing is a great inspiration,” Alcaraz said.

“I try not to think about it too much in the match. But in difficult matches, I think about the effort and the level of Rafa, how he’s fighting all the time. He never gives up.”

“I try to think about it and try to do it myself. All I could do is take a memory of that plaque from Rafa Nadal,” he said.

Alcaraz, seeking a second title in Paris to follow the path set by his countryman, then moved into Sunday’s final after Italian Lorenzo Musetti retired injured at the start of the fourth set of their semi-final.

Installed on day one of this year’s tournament as organisers paid tribute to the recently retired “King of Clay”, Nadal’s footprint has rapidly transformed into something of a shrine at the spiritual home of claycourt tennis.

Italian Jasmine Paolini touched it before one of her matches last week, while Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero – himself a former Roland Garros champion – posed for a photograph in front of the footprint.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)