(Tennis news) 22 time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal was beaten by Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-4 in the ATP Finals at Turin's Pala Alpitour Stadium. The struggling Spaniard, who has never won the ATP Finals, entered the tournament with hopes of securing the silverware in order to finish as World Number 1 at the end of the year but succumbed to his second consecutive defeat, the first being against American Taylor Fritz. Nadal will now face Norway’s Casper Ruud in his next match and will be desperate for a win, having lost four successive ATP Tour matches for the first time since 2009.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is coached by Nadal’s uncle and former coach Toni who sat in the box as his nephew was outclassed by the Canadian. The 22 year old will now face Taylor Fritz in the final match and has a chance of making it to the last four. Nadal showed his dominance in the first set, threatening to break the Canadians serve twice but while serving at 3-4 and leading 40-0, Nadal committed a few double faults and baseline errors which allowed Felix Auger-Aliassime to break. The 22 year old has already won four titles this season and sealed the first set with relative ease and moved a break ahead early in the second.
Despite some flashes of brilliance, Nadal simply didn’t have enough in the locker to overcome his opponent, resulting in a disappointing defeat. The Spaniard still has a slim chance of reaching the semi-finals if he defeats Casper Ruud in straight sets and the other results go in his favor, but it’s an unlikely prospect. Nadal admitted that he has not been at his best at the ATP Finals by saying “When you are facing all the circumstances that I faced the last six months, to be here is positive. To experience what's going on is not a big surprise. That does not mean that I am not sad about the results. It's something that can happen.
"I just accept that tomorrow I start my 2023 season. That's all. The only thing that I can do is keep working, keep doing the things that I need to do to give myself a chance to start with real chances in 2023. I don't think I forgot how to play tennis, or how to be strong enough mentally. I just need to recover all these positive feelings and all this confidence and all this strong mentality that I need to be at the level that I want to be."
Also read: Taylor Fritz defeats Rafael Nadal in opening match of ATP Finals
