The start of 2022 was tremendous for Rafael Nadal, he won two Grand Slam titles and was almost invincible. However, in the recent period since his return after the birth of his eldest son, the Spaniard is a completely different player, more precisely – much more vulnerable. Last night (Tuesday) the one who took advantage of it wisely was Felix Oja Eliasim, who managed to cure his second loss in the year-end championship in Turin with 3:6, 4:6.
As mentioned, for Rafa, who is ranked second in the world, this was already his fourth loss in a row, which is extremely unusual, three in the current month and one in the US Open Championship. Two days ago, Nadal lost to Taylor Fritz, and even today he had no answers against the talented Canadian tennis player (6th in the world), who made the biggest difference mainly through his excellent serves (15 aces).
This is in complete contrast to Rafa, who did not serve well (put 59% in the first serve) and also registered 4 double faults, besides some great points, which reminded us of his peak ability, Rafa also had a lot of mistakes (18 uncommitted mistakes) that we are not used to seeing from him (minor fouls) near the net) and following the current loss the dream of winning the competition in Turin is probably finally dashed, once again.
So the 36-year-old Spanish star, who has won the Grand Slam titles for those who have had time to forget, will probably again not be able to win the major title he lacks – the year-end trophy and will hope to come to his senses until the Australian Championships in a few months, where Novak Djokovic will already be waiting for him, unlike for the current year. By the way, the one who sat uncomfortably in the stands and was certainly not completely happy about the result is Toni Nadal, Rafa’s uncle, his coach in the past and the Canadian’s now.
Kasper Rod also entered the court today (Wednesday) when he met Taylor Fritz in a match that was dragged into a huge drama in the end, the Norwegian won the tie breaker 3:6, 6:4 and 6:7 (6:8).
Ranked fourth in the world, he started the game well, managed to break already in the second game and maintained his serves on the way to an easy 3:6. The second game continued in the same way with both sides having trouble breaking and Fritz, who served first, went up to 4:5 in games. Then the American managed to break for the first time in the match and balanced the sets with a 4:6 victory in the second set.
Both tennis players displayed an outstanding service game and were broken only once during the entire match, which means that the third game reached 6:6 and broke the tie. Rod had already lost two game points, but finally managed to rise and won 6:8 in the tie breaker at the end of a difficult game.
