 Rafael Nadal versus Carlos Alcárez is the second semi-final for the men at Indian Wolves for 2022, and both guys have been very impressive to get to this stage. Alcárez started the tournament as the 19th seed and got a buy in the first round. His second round opponent was the local Hope McDonald and he dismissed him in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. His third round opponent was 15th seed and Spanish veteran Batista Ragu and this was one of the most impressive performances from Alcárez for the week, only dropping a few games in straight sets, winning at 6-2 and 6-1. In the fourth round he faced the number 26 seed Montfies who just came off beating the number one seed Medvedev in the previous round. And after an entertaining first set that was very close, Alcárez got through in straight sets 7-5, 6-1. In his quarter-final matchup he take on the defending champion and number 12 seed Cam Norrie and although Norrie had a very impressive week himself, Alcárez did not seem bothered taking out the champ 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the semis. Rafael Nadal entered the tournament as the number four seed and on a 15 match win streak and got a buy in the first round. His second round opponent was Seb Corder, the American and after taking the first set he was forced to play 3 and would have to fight in the third set to come back from 5-2 down but he eventually prevailed 6-2, 1-6, 7-6. His third round opponent was the 27th seed Dan Evans and after a close first set where Evans had the lead it was Rafa to come back again winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. In his fourth round match he take on the big serving American Riley Opelka the number 17 seed and as you'd guess Opelka playing a couple of tie breaks but Rafa getting the best of him winning both the tie breaks 7-6, 7-6. His quarter-final meeting was against the wild card Nick Kirios who he'd had some epic clashes with in the past and this was no exception. This match lived up to the hype with all the drama you expect from a Kirios Nadal matchup but it was Rafa who got the win in the end 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals. These two have only played the one time before that was last year in Madrid and Rafa got the win pretty easily so it wasn't quite the matchup that was built up to be with the new generation Spaniard against the veteran Spaniard or the goat Spaniard it wasn't quite that matchup but this one feels a little bit different being on a hard court. If Alcares is going to win he needs to be super aggressive early and he kind of needs Rafa to play bad because usually when Rafa is playing his best not many players outside of the greatest of all time Djokovic and Federer can beat him at his best. If Nadal is going to win he's going to play better than he has he played okay against Kirios but he played the big points the best and kept his cool when he needed to when Kirios did have a bit of a meltdown so he's going to have to absorb the power of Alcares but also play a lot better than he has for the rest of the week he's probably feeling tired the foot's probably hurting but we'll see if he can handle the heat from Alcares. This is a very interesting matchup and it's very hyped on social media as it should be but I think the experience of Rafa is going to win this one I'm going to go with Rafa in straight sets I think Alcares is about 12 months away from really testing Rafa in a matchup but it's not quite yet there I think it's going to be close but I think it's going to be Rafa in straight but let me know down in the comments below who do you think is going to win this one.