ATP Finals, Rafael Nadal ends the year with a win

Rafael Nadal greets Turin with a victory

In the last match of the group stage of the Turin ATP Finals Rafael Nadal, who had already been eliminated, overcame Norway’s Casper Ruud, who had already qualified for the semifinals, in two sets with a double 7-5 victory.

In the first set, the serves held sway until Nadal was 6-5 up. When by then the tie-break seemed the natural conclusion of the first fraction, Ruud resoundingly melted down and with three free errors ended 0-40. Nadal, on the other hand, does not let it be said twice: he pushes with his forehand and closes at the net, cashing the first set 7-5.

The second fraction has an almost identical trend: Rafa concedes crumbs on serve, Ruud a little more but has no problems until 5-6 when, called to serve for the second time to stay in the match, he goes down 15-40. The Norwegian manages to save a match point but the second is the good one for Nadal who closes with the same score in the second set.

Nadal with this success thus avoids the negative record of five consecutive defeats dating back to 2003. For Ruud little harm: the Norwegian already certain of the first place in the round anxiously awaits Friday’s match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev with the winner challenging him in the semifinals.