Exclusive: Bjorn Borg backs flawless Carlos Alcaraz to be No.1 for 'many years', hopes to see Rafa Nadal at French Open

Flawless Carlos Alcaraz will be world No. 1 for “many years”, according to Bjorn Borg, who is crossing his fingers that Rafael Nadal can recover from injury in time to feature at the French Open. Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday by progressing to the Madrid Open final with a straight-sets win over Borna Coric on Friday.

Ad The Spaniard is closing in on ousting Novak Djokovic from the top of the ATP rankings; victory in the Madrid final against Jan-Lennard Struff or Aslan Karatsev would mean he just needs to compete at the Rome Masters to become No. 1 again. ATP Madrid'It means a lot to me' — Alcaraz battles past Coric to reach Madrid Open final2 HOURS AGO Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eurosport, 11-time Grand Slam winner Borg waxed lyrical about the Spaniard’s potential.

“After this week he’s going to be No. 1 in the world, and I think he’s going to be staying there for many years,” Borg said. “The way he plays, the way he moves, I like the whole game.

No weaknesses. Alcaraz battles past Coric to reach Madrid Open final Murray sees off Van Assche to reach Aix-en-Provence Challenger semis Nadal's French Open hopes suffer fresh blow following Rome Masters withdrawal “This was a semi-final today, I think he has a good chance to win the final. But to watch this guy play is unbelievable, I’m very impressed.” There was bad news to go with the good for Spanish tennis fans, though, as Nadal announced his withdrawal from next week’s event in Rome.

The record 14-time Roland Garros winner has been battling injury since the start of the year and his hopes of being fit in time to defend his Paris crown at the end of the month appear to be growing slimmer by the week. “Rafa is a good friend of mine. I know he’s