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Rafael Nadal loses world No.1 spot after defeat to Auger-Aliassime.
Rafael Nadal’s quest to finish as year-end No.1 ended on Tuesday, following his loss to young gun Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets of 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 57 minutes at the ATP Finals.
Going into the match, Nadal was still within a chance of finishing as the year-end No.1 ahead of Carlos Alcaraz, but he needed to beat Auger-Aliassime.
However, it was not to be for the Spaniard as Auger-Aliassime played a superb match to see off the World No. 2. The Canadian saved all five breakpoints and dominated the shortest exchanges after firing 15 aces.
Nadal on the other hand lost all ground in the rallies and experienced a break in each set, in which the Canadian saved break points in two challenging games in the opener to move 4-3 in front.
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The experienced Spaniard lost the advantage to build in game eight, and closed the opener with a hold at 15 in game nine for 6-3. Nadal lost serve in the second set’s third game from 40-15 up, giving his opponent a breakpoint in game six, eventually losing the second set by 6-4.
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The indoor hard surface has never been Nadal’s forte, as he has only won 20 of the 38 matches played at the Masters. It is also the second time he has lost his first two round robin matches at the ATP Finals, the first time since 2009.
He is now eliminated from the Nitto ATP Finals, after Casper Ruud defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6), to reach the semifinals for the second consecutive year topping the Green Group.
Nadal will now play his last group game with Casper Ruud.
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