Rafael Nadal fell this Friday before Felix Auger-Aliassime by 7-6 (6), 4-6 and 10-3 in his second against the exhibition of Hurlingham. On a windy day, the Canadian won the match against the ‘supertie-break’ after marking an equalizer the two previous sets.
Despite the defeat, Nadal showed up again good sensation on the right and vice versa. But, the many opportunities given to the student by his uncle Toni with second serving on the contrary, an event that paid off in the initial tiebreaker and in the final.
Despite this, Nadal signed a solid first set, enduring the slipstream of an unashamed Auger-Aliassime on his first serve. With no break options for one or the other, the set was heading for a tie-break where Rafa suffered.
The Spanish were behind it, with four mini-breaks delivered to serve. Nadal clung to the game to immediately recover each of the top three, but yielded a fourth for an 8-6 match which sent him down the second sleeve.
Nadal has become more intense here. After 2-2, the Spaniards turned to attack, quick pressing forehand and backhand to cause errors in the racket of an Auger-Aliassime to give up at break. Nadal hasn’t wavered since then, keeping his serves blank to force a 6-4 was the final tiebreaker.
In an exhibition match, it turned out to be a ‘supertie-break’. Here, Nadal was erratic from the start with his backhand, delivering a mini-break for 1-2 and a later point for 1-4. To the mistakes of the Spaniards was added the deep lip of Auger-Aliassime, who went 1-8 taking advantage of Nadal’s problems to clear some balls. Because the tiebreaker was on the right track, Felix just waited for his turn to serve to seal the tie. 10-3 definitely.
That’s why Nadal turned down the match, already looking at Wimbledon, in his debut scheduled for next Tuesday against Francisco Cerundolo. However, in filming these days, both in two games at Hurlingham and in several training sessions, and with no trace of a problem with his foot, the Balearic seems to be coming up with guarantees to face the third Grand Slam of the season.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
