Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime dealt Rafael Nadal his second straight loss in the ATP Finals before Casper Ruud’s win over Taylor Fritz ensured that the 22-time grandslam champion was eliminated from the competition in Turin.
Nadal, coming into his match against the Canadian on the back of an opening-day loss to Fritz, was beaten 6-3 6-4.
The 36-year-old looked rusty again after only participating in one tournament since his loss at the US Open and let several opportunities slip from his hand.
Serving at 3-4 Nadal led 40-0 but faltered to allow Auger-Aliassime to break before the Canadian took the first set. Auger-Aliassime carried the momentum in the second set to break Nadal early, who showed flashes of his genius but could not prevent a second straight loss.
His second loss at the ATP Finals to Auger-Aliassime is the first time Nadal has lost four straight Tour matches since 2009.
In hindsight, Nadal now gets ample time to heal up once again and launch a fresh challenge for next year starting with the United Cup.
Nadal’s still had a chance of making it out but his hopes rested with Taylor Fritz beating Casper Ruud in straight sets but it was the Norweigan who triumphed 6-3 4-6 7-6(6) to seal Nadal’s fate.
After a comfortable first set, Ruud stumbled in the second to set up a decider where he let a comfortable 5-1 lead slip but managed to get his feet under him in time to win the tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime and Fritz, who have both won one of their opening two matches, will now face each other next with the winner advancing to the semis.
