The winner of a record 22 Grand Slams is yet to win a set at the final event of the season. The Norwegian Casper Ruud can deprive him of a minimum hope for the semifinal already in the evening match, if he plays at least one set against the American Taylor Fritz.
The 36-year-old Nadal, who has played only six competitive matches since July due to health problems, only kept pace with his opponent in the first set. At 3:4, he lost the 40:0 lead on his own serve, and Auger-Aliassime was then in control of the match. In the second set, the 22-year-old Canadian took the lead 3:1 and led the match to victory, which kept his chance for the semifinals. Auger-Aliassime had 15 aces to win, while Nadal only scored one.
For the Spanish champion, defeat means almost certain elimination from the group. Nadal has thus lost the opportunity to return to first place in the standings and the chance for the title from the Tournament of Champions, which is the last of the great successes in his rich collection.
| Turin Masters (hard court, $14.75 million endowment): |
|---|
| Singles – Green Group: |
| Auger-Aliassime (5-Chan.) – Nadal (1-Sp.) 6:3, 6:4, |
| 21:00, Ruud (3-North.) – Fritz (8-USA). |
| Table: | ||||||
| 1. | Fritz | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:00 | 1 |
| 2. | Ruud | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:00 | 1 |
| 3. | Auger-Also | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2:2 | 1 |
| 4. | Nadal | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0:4 | 0 |
| Double – red group: |
| Rojer, Arévalo (3-Niz./Salv.) – Granollers, Zeballos (7-Šp./Arg.) 6:1, 6:7 (3:7), 10:7. |
| Table: | ||||||
| 1. | Heliovaara, Ice puddle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:00 | 1 |
| 2. | Ram, Salisbury | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:1 | 1 |
| 3. | Rojer, Arevalo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2:3 | 1 |
| 4. | Granollers, Zeballos | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2:4 | 0 |
