The Spaniard lost his second match in the ATP Finals after the initial defeat to Taylor Fritz and confirms his bad moment
Toni Nadal applauded and nodded from the stands. Not because his nephew, as so often, gave him pleasure on the field, but because Felix Auger-Aliassime, his apprentice, defeated Rafael Nadal and left the shooter on the verge of elimination during the ATP Finals (6-3 and 6-4).
Manacor will need a miracle, who will have to wait for Fritz to beat Casper Ruud 2-0, then American Auger-Aliassime 2-0 and beat Ruud on the third day. A practically impossible carom that takes the crown of master and number one from Nadal’s reach, which is not at the level this tournament demands.
The image of the Alpitour was better than that of the first day, especially in a first set that should have fallen on Nadal’s side. The Spaniard generated four break points, two in the first game and two in the seventh, but his serve and Auger-Aliassime forehand defused them all. The last two in particular were painful, making Nadal hit and easy to trick.
In the eighth game, Nadal led 40–0 on serve and the collapse began. He made two double faults in a row, hit a long shot and ended up with lost service. Too big a gift against Auger-Aliassime, who won 18 of 19 first-serve points in the opening set.
Despite the defeat against Ruud on his debut, the Canadian is one of the strongest players this season, with three titles in a row in Florence, Antwerp and Basel. In addition, Toni Nadal’s protege has won four indoor titles this year (including Rotterdam), a record since Pete Sampras achieved the same record in 1997.
Faced with this, there was little Nadal could do, who can hardly give a glimmer of quality from time to time at this time of year. Against Fritz, Auger-Aliassime quickly took advantage in the second set, broke in the third game and resolved Nadal’s fifth break point, an important one as it allowed him to dream of a comeback that never came and was never close.
With eight aces and 18 winners, Auger-Aliassime crushed Nadal, who had to settle for a miracle. In doing so, he adds his fourth consecutive defeat on the track, something he hadn’t seen since 2009, when he also tied four between the Masters 1,000 semi-finals at Paris-Bercy and the three group stage matches of the ATP Finals in London .
The lack of activity is taking its toll on Nadal, who had a very busy first part of the season, with two Grand Slams to his name (Australian Open and Roland Garros), a title in Acapulco, a final in Indian Wells, the I went through Rome and Madrid and the Wimbledon semifinals.
The birth of his son and the two abdominal injuries he suffered, as well as a broken rib in Indian Wells, have taken their toll on Nadal, who is nevertheless on the verge of eventually becoming world number one. of the year. . After this defeat, Carlos Alcaraz has the honor a little closer, but it is still worth it for Nadal to take the title.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
