Nadal stunned by Paul in Paris
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PARIS: Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Paris Masters in the second round on Wednesday after losing in three sets to American Tommy Paul, boosting Carlos Alcaraz’s hopes of finishing the year as world number one.
Nadal, playing his first singles match since the US Open fourth round and becoming a father, won the first set against American Tommy Paul but went down 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
“I had the match [in my hands] in that second set with a set and break. I played a terrible game there. I didn’t deserve the victory playing that bad in that key moment,” said Nadal.
Paul goes on to play Pablo Carreno Busta for a place in the quarter-finals while Nadal’s loss means Alcaraz will end the season as the top-ranked player if he takes home the trophy on Sunday.
Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion, will play Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16 after defeating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4.
“First round in every tournament is never easy. You have to be really focused, you have to try to get good rhythm, good feeling in the first round,” said the 19-year-old Spaniard.
Nadal’s early exit was preceded by that of Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 Paris champion and 2021 runner-up who was knocked out by Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.
De Minaur, who had not previously beaten a top-five player, will now face US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe, who eased past Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5.
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas produced a fine performance to oust Dan Evans, breaking the Briton early in both sets and making the most of his opponent’s unforced errors to secure a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti beat Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-4, 6-2 to set up a meeting with third seed Casper Ruud.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Russian Andrey Rublev sealed the last two places at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin as Taylor Fritz’s hopes vanished with a loss to Gilles Simon.
Auger-Aliassime battled to a 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) win over Swede Mikael Ymer while Rublev beat John Isner 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday.
They join Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Nadal, Casper Ruud, Tsitsipas and Medvedev in the event.
Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2022
