World No. 2 Rafael Nadal will lock horns with world No. 4 Casper Ruud in their final group-stage encounter at the ATP Finals on Thursday.
The 36-year-old is not having a great end to the season. Nadal came into the tournament having lost his last two matches on the tour. The former world No. 1 had to win the tournament in order to become the year-end No. 1 player for the sixth time in his career. However, he has already been eliminated after losing both his matches so far.
Nadal began his campaign in Turin against the talented Taylor Fritz. The Spaniard put up a decent fight in the first set but Fritz managed to edge it by the barest of margins. Fritz dominated the second set and eventually won the match 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Nadal needed to win his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime to stay afloat in the competition. However, the youngster used his serves to good effect and unsettled the veteran. The Canadian athlete, who entered the tournament in red-hot form, won the match 6-3, 6-4.
The young Norwegian has had a breakthrough season. He reached a couple of Grand Slam finals this year. In the French Open final, Ruud was completely outplayed by Nadal. However, things have changed drastically from thereon and it won’t be a surprise if Ruud exacts revenge on the southpaw in Turin.
Ruud began his campaign with a solid 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win against Felix Auger-Aliassime. In his second match, Ruud had to dig deep in order to defeat Taylor Fritz in a closely contested affair. The match ended 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in favor of the third-seeded Ruud.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 1-0 in favor of Nadal. He defeated Ruud in straight sets in the 2022 French Open final.
Prediction: Casper Ruud to win in three sets.
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