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Rafael Nadal is determined to get back to his best

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Rafael Nadal says he will “die” trying to get back to the form of tennis that saw him claim 22 Grand Slam singles titles after his hopes of a maiden ATP Finals title and becoming world number one at the end of the year faded. Tuesday.

The 36-year-old Spaniard lost 6-3 6-4 to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in Turin to follow up on defeat by Taylor Fritz on Sunday.

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To survive the finals, Nadal needed Fritz to beat Casper Ruud in straight sets on Tuesday.

But when Ruud won a set against Fritz, it meant a sharp exit for Nadal as well as that his teenage compatriot, US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, would finish the year as the best male player.

Ruud went on to beat Fritz 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) to book himself a berth in the semi-finals, while Fritz will play Auger-Aliassime on Thursday to decide which player advances to the final. four.

Nadal needed to win the title at the end of the year for the first time in his trophy-laden career to stand a chance of stopping Alcaraz from finishing first.

“I mean, I don’t think I forget how I play tennis, how I’m mentally strong enough,” said Nadal, who was playing in his third singles match since the US Open in September.

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“I just need to get all these positive feelings back and all this confidence and all this strong mentality I need to be at the level that I want to be. And I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that level again. But what I have no doubt about is that I would die for it.”

Nadal – who nevertheless won the Australian Open and French Open this year – paid tribute to the 19-year-old Alcaraz, who was unable to play in Turin due to an abdominal injury.

“Well done to Carlos in this case,” said Nadal.

“Happy for him. Great achievement for him. Well done. Good news for our sport in Spain. He deserved it after a great season.”

‘Very special’

Nadal’s rust appeared against Auger Aliassime, who is in great shape after winning three titles in October.

“It’s great to win against him, and to survive in the tournament!” said Auger-Aliassime.

“I’ve been playing some great tennis in the last month and then beating a player of his stature is very special.”

Nadal rejected all four of his break points in the first set, although the 22-year-old Canadian opponent delivered two impressive forehands to avoid breakage at 3-3.

Auger-Aliassime, by contrast, made no mistake in breaking the Spaniard with the one he was offered.

The Canadian was equally clinical when he was served by two set points, converting the first of them.

Nadal fared a little better in the second set as he showed a lack of competitive matches – he took a break to spend time with his son, who was born in October.

Auger-Aliassime grabbed the tackle by the scruff as Nadal broke 1-1, sending the Spaniard a long ball.

Auger-Aliassime hit the ball with great precision and could give a wistful grin when one didn’t go smoothly, flying up onto the surface of the inner court.

Nadal had few chances to put Auger-Aliassime under pressure as the Canadian played very well, but had a break point – his first of the second set for him – on his opponent’s serve at 2-3.

However, once again he was unable to take it and Auger-Aliassime continued to hold his serve and never faltered from that point on, eventually closing out the match on his first two match points.

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