Uche Cecil Izuora
Rafa Nadal will have one last chance to face old rival Novak Djokovic before the Spaniard calls time on his illustrious career with the pair set to meet at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia.
Nadal lost 6-3 6-3 to Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals on Thursday to set up a third-place match against the Serb, who was beaten 6-2 6-7(0) 6-4 by Jannik Sinner.
World number one Sinner will meet Alcaraz in the final at Riyadh where the winner will take home $6 million
“To have Novak in front of me, it’s like a nostalgic thing,” Nadal told reporters. “We’ve played each other a lot, so it’ll be fun to play each other again in this match.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who announced his retirement last week, has faced Djokovic in 60 matches – the most in men’s tennis – and has triumphed 29 times to the Serb’s 31.
The last time Nadal faced 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic was in the second round of the Paris Olympics, where he lost 6-1 6-4.