Carlos Alcaraz’s ATP Finals Debut: A Look Back at Nadal and Djokovic’s Early Tournament Struggles

What happened on Monday to Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Finals, losing in his debut (against Alexander Zverev), also happened in his day to two of the best tennis players of all time, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic. And, curiously, both were the same age as the Murcian now, 20 years old. Nadal fell 6-4 and 7-6 (0) in his first match of the Masters, which was held in Shanghai, against the American James Blake (to the dessert finalist). But then he beat the Spanish Tommy Robredo (7-6 (2) and 6-2) and the Russian Nikolay Davydenko (5-7, 6-4 and 6-4) and qualified for the semifinals. In that round he couldn’t beat Roger Federer, who was the final winner. Later, Nadal was a finalist twice, in 2010 (lost to Federer) and 2013 (to Djokovic).

A story that started badly

Djokovic, for his part, will not have very good memories of his debut in the 2007 Finals, also in the Chinese city. The Balkan stumbled against a great David Ferrer (double 6-4) and then also succumbed to the Frenchman Richard Gasquet (6-4 and 6-2) and against Nadal (double 6-4), being eliminated. At that moment he surely did not imagine that just a year later, in 2008, he would win the tournament for the first time (in the final against Davydenko), a success that was repeated in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2022. Nadal and Djokovic have faced five times in the Masters Cup, with a favorable balance for Belgrade (3-2). As for the third member of the Big Three, Federer, the Swiss was successful in presenting him at the 2002 Masters in Shanghai. He beat Juan Carlos Ferrero, coach of Alcaraz, 6-3 and 6-4. He then beat the Czech Jiri Novak (6-0, 4-6 and 6-2) and the Swede Thomas Johansson (6-3 and 7-5) before succumbing to the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who finished champion.Follow the Diario AS channel on WhatsAppwhere you will find all the sports keys of the day.
2023-11-14 16:21:38
#Nadal #Djokovic #lost #debut #Finals