The Balearic fell to the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime and links four consecutive defeats
MADRID, 15 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal has been virtually eliminated from the ATP Finals, which are played in Turin, after falling to the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime in his second match of the Green Group (6-3, 6-4), a defeat that It could also allow his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz to retain world number one until next year.
Since 2009, the Spaniard had not lost four games in a row -something he has only experienced four times in his career-, but Auger-Aliassime delved into his wound, all with his uncle Toni, the American’s coach, sitting on the opposite bench as a witness.
A 2-0 victory this Tuesday for the American Taylor Fritz against the Norwegian Casper Ruud would virtually keep the Spaniard with options, who should win Ruud by two sets on Thursday and hope that Fritz will also beat Auger 2-0 on the same day -Aliassime, all this in addition to needing a better percentage of games won than the Norwegian and the Canadian.
The elimination of Nadal, current number two in the ATP ranking, would allow Carlos Alcaraz from Murcia to finish 2022 as number one in the world, becoming the first Spaniard since 2019 -when Nadal himself achieved it- to do so.
Both tennis players jumped onto the court of the Pala Alpitour in the Italian city with no margin for error, aware that a defeat left them out of the fight to become ‘masters’. Nadal, who went to the meeting with a favorable 2-1 in the heads-up against the American, did not know how to take advantage of the moments of doubt of his rival and marched in tow throughout the match.
The one from Manacor soon had the first opportunities to hit his opponent, but wasted a couple of break balls in the opening game.
The solidity in the serve marked the following games until the seventh, where the Balearic once again had two other break balls that, again, he did not know how to take advantage of. Instead, Auger-Aliassime materialized the first chance he had in the eighth, vital to later close the first set with his serve.
Nadal started the second round giving up his service (1-2) and nothing changed. Neither of the two contenders managed to break their rival’s serve in the remainder of the set and the fight ended after one hour and 56 minutes of play.
