Rafael Nadal taking nothing for granted

Nadal and Alcaraz next take on USA’s Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram for a spot in the last four on Wednesday, 31 July but the Nadal, the man who is back in his stomping yard where he won 14 French Open titles, wasn’t about to get ahead of himself just yet.

“Well, we had fun because the score was positive in thebtiebreak,” Nadal said. “We have been suffering but of course we are enjoying playing together.

“We are creating good synergies with good energy, so we are having fun in general. I think we have a positive relationship outside of the court that helps inside.

“We are happy we’re in quarter-finals, closer to the goal and let’s keep being focused. Tomorrow is another important day.

“He has singles before and then doubles. So let’s focus on the singles first, Carlos, and then I will be there waiting,” he said with a nod to the reigning two-time Wimbledon champion standing next to him.

Alcaraz, who lifted the men’s singles trophy on these very premises last month, said: “I played really good tennis at the net. I served pretty well so I think we both played really good tennis – much better than the first one.”

“We are going to keep working. We are going to keep improving our doubles game and it’s going to be better in the quarter-final.”