TURIN, Italy: Rafael Nadal’s bid to win one of the few titles missing from his glittering career started poorly as he was beaten in straight sets by eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz in their opening match at the ATP Finals on Sunday.
After a close-fought opening set, Fritz dominated the second as the American secured a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over the top-seeded Nadal.
“It feels great. I felt like coming out first match, especially for my hopes of getting out of the group, it was going to be really important,” Fritz said. “I came out and played a great match, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Fritz strengthened his grip on the match when he broke Nadal’s serve in the fourth game of the second set.
Nadal fought valiantly to stay in the match and managed to save four break points in the sixth game but Fritz prevailed at the fifth time of asking to leave him serving for the match. He closed it out when the Spaniard sent a forehand long.
It was only Nadal’s second singles match since the US Open as he has struggled with injuries and also became a father for the first time in October.
Nadal has never won the ATP Finals title in 10 attempts. He finished runner-up in 2010 and 2013.
Earlier, third-seeded Casper Ruud, who lost in the semifinals last year, eased to a straight-set victory over tournament debutant Felix Auger-Aliassime in the other Green Group match.
The match was largely dominated by serving and a solitary break in the seventh game of the second set proved enough for the Norwegian player to secure a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over the fifth-seeded Canadian.
“I think this is some of the best level that I have played since the US Open,” said Ruud, who lost the final at Flushing Meadows to Carlos Alcaraz. “The last couple of months have been a little bit of a struggle, I have to honestly say that, but you have to accept it as well.
“You will face difficult moments in your career, and maybe these last couple of months was one of those … It doesn’t matter how hard you practice if you don’t win matches, so today was a great win for me.”
Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev complete the lineup in Turin.
Fritz beats Nadal at ATP Finals; Ruud downs Auger-Aliassime
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Fritz beats Nadal at ATP Finals; Ruud downs Auger-Aliassime
Paolini races into round two to kickstart Australian Open
MELBOURNE: Jasmine Paolini powered into the Australian Open second round with a straight-sets demolition to kickstart the action in a hot and sunny Melbourne on Sunday.
The seventh-seeded Italian outclassed Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
Paolini faces Poland’s Magdalena Frech or Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia next.
“It was pretty good today, I did not expect that,” she said of her emphatic win in 69 minutes.
“Always tough to play first round. I played pretty good. I was solid, focused, so happy.
“Before the match I was a little nervous, to be honest, but then stepped on court and felt good from the first ball.”
The 30-year-old broke her opponent’s serve immediately and raced into a 3-0 lead in just 10 minutes.
She polished off the first set in 26 minutes and although Sasnovich put up more resistance in the second, Paolini ran out a comfortable winner.
Paolini reached the finals of Wimbledon and the French Open in 2024, but her best result at Melbourne Park is the fourth round in the same year.
