Nadal faces ATP Finals opener defeat to Zverev as Tsitsipas rises

World number one Rafael Nadal after being outplayed 6-2 6-4 on Monday (November 11) by defending champion Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals said his physical issue cannot be an excuse for his poor performance at the game.

However, sixth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas got a perfect start for his campaign after defeating Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 in the robin-round match in Group Andre Agassi.

The Spaniard, who has never won the season-ending event, came into the tournament at London’s O2 Arena under an injury cloud and was well short of his imperious best.

Nadal is fighting with Novak Djokovic to finish as the top stop in the year-end ATP rankings but was not serving flat out in practice last week due to an abdominal strain that forced him to pull out of the Paris Masters at the semi-final stage.

The 33-year-old led Germany’s Zverev 5-0 in head-to-head contests coming into the match but was uncharacteristically sloppy in the first set, conceding two breaks of serve.

Buoyed by his dominant start, Zverev, seeded seventh, broke in the first game of the second set to take an iron grip on the match.

Also read: Thiem defeats Federer in ATP Finals’ first round, Djokovic cruises

Nadal dug deep, urging himself on but his 22-year-old opponent proved too strong. He did not concede a single breakpoint in the entire match.

Zverev hit a total of 26 winners — double his opponent’s tally — and Nadal managed just three forehand winners in the entire match.

“The physical issue was not an excuse at all. The only excuse is I was not good enough tonight,” said the Spanish 19-time Grand Slam champion, who said he did not feel any pain from his abdominal injury.

“What really matters is I need to play much better in two days. That’s the only thing. We knew that it was going to be tough, because the period of time since the injury until today is very short, but we are here trying,” he added.

Zverev, one of four players under the age of 24 at the event in London, was delighted to recapture his best form after a mixed season.

“This means so much, playing here again after winning my biggest title so far in my career here last year,” he said.

“This means everything to me. Playing here, playing in front of you all, playing in the O2 is something that we don’t have during the year, and this is so special,” he added.

Also read: Djokovic ready to grab year-end No.1 after Paris Masters win

Nadal faces a tough task now to qualify for the semi-finals from the group phase, with matches still to come against Tsitsipas and Medvedev. The Spaniard has qualified for the year-end championships for 15 years in a row but has only made nine appearances due to injuries.

Tsitsipas hunger

Earlier, Tsitsipas made light of a 5-0 losing record against his Russia’s Medvedev, edging a first-set tie-break and breaking late in the second set to seal the match. The two players have had a rocky relationship.

Tensions flared between them in Miami last year and Tsitsipas recently labelled Medvedev’s way of winning as “boring” after defeat against the Russian in Shanghai.

The Greek player said Medvedev had got “into my head” in Miami — he said the row had centred on a demand from the Russian for an apology over a net cord.

“I mean, our chemistry definitely isn’t the best that you can find on the Tour,” said Tsitsipas, who added that Monday’s match had been tougher because he was so desperate to win.

Djokovic launched his bid for a sixth ATP Finals title with a comfortable win against Matteo Berrettini on Sunday but Roger Federer slipped to a straight-sets defeat against Dominic Thiem.

(With inputs from agencies)