Rafael Nadal makes feelings clear on Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz dating rumours

Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz have been causing a stir since they decided to team up for the US Open mixed doubles event in August. The British No. 3 has turned up to a few of Alcaraz's matches at Wimbledon and Queen's, though she dispelled dating rumours when she confirmed they were just friends.

Rafael Nadal has now had his say on the gossip surrounding his countryman and the 2021 US Open champion, whom he believes has a "great future".

The 22-time Grand Slam champion retired from professional tennis last year and, unlike Raducanu, he did not return to the All England Club to watch any matches this summer.

But he's well aware of the dating rumours surrounding Raducanu and Alcaraz, even though the British star put them to bed on the eve of Wimbledon when she was bluntly asked whether they were true.

"Sorry, but I don't get involved in those topics," Nadal told The Times when asked about the Raducanu-Alcaraz romance talk.

The former world No. 1 was happy, however, to have his say on Raducanu's unprecedented career. She won the US Open four years ago as a teenage qualifier ranked down at No. 150 in the world.

Playing just the fourth professional event of her career, Raducanu stormed to the trophy by winning 10 matches without dropping a set. She has yet to win a title at any level since.

However, she has climbed back up to No. 45 in the world after she dropped outside of the top 300 when she ended her 2023 season early to have three surgeries.

Nadal added: "I think she won very early on; when she won the US Open she was very young. There were a lot of expectations and pressure on her - it takes time to come to terms with."

Raducanu seems to be coming to terms with it. She pushed world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling third-round match at Wimbledon, leading by a break in both sets before losing 7-6 6-4.

A few days later, she rocked up to watch Alcaraz beat Andrey Rublev on Centre Court. And Raducanu came back again to witness Jannik Sinner's semi-final victory against Novak Djokovic.

The 22-year-old had also been seen on the balcony of the Queen's Club last month, watching Alcaraz beat Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-final.

A couple of days later, she said: "I was having the day off on Saturday and I was with my friends and we were like, let's go to Queen's and watch the tennis and then we went out and to the River Cafe in the evening, it was a super nice evening."

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