Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud will face one another in the group stage of the 2022 ATP Finals on Thursday, November 17.
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Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, will face World No. 4 Casper Ruud in the 2022 ATP Finals group stage on Thursday. Nadal needed to win his next group tie against Felix Auger-Aliassime to have a chance of making it out of the group stage after losing in straight sets to Taylor Fritz. The Spaniard had two break points in the first game of the first set but failed to convert. He had two more chances in the seventh game of the set but failed both times. With Nadal unable to make inroads, Auger-Aliassime quickly closed out the match, winning 6-3, 6-4. With this defeat, the Spaniard has been eliminated from semifinal contention.
Ruud began his ATP Finals campaign with a victory over Auger-Aliassime before facing Taylor Fritz in his next group match. He got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. To win the first set, the Norwegian maintained his lead until the very end. Ruud faced three break points early in the second set, but he held serve. Following that, the duo remained quite solid on serve. The 23-year-old had a game point to tie the match at 5-5, but Fritz broke his serve and won the set to force a decider. With neither player breaking serve in the final set, the match went to a tie-break. Ruud led 5-1 and had a couple of match points, but Fritz came back to tie the game at 6-6. The Norwegian then won the next two points to win the match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) and advance to the semifinals.
Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud have faced one another only once so far in their careers but that was on one of the biggest stages of world tennis. The duo clashed at the 2022 French Open final which was won by the Spaniard 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
| Year | Competition and round | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | French Open final | Rafael Nadal | 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 |
The Spaniard has not been in a good run of form of late as he has lost four of his last five competitive singles matches. His latest defeat came at the hands of Auger-Aliassime in the ATP Finals.
| Opponent | Result | Win/Loss | Competition and round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Felix Auger-Aliassime | 6-3, 6-4 | Loss | ATP Finals group stage |
| Taylor Fritz | 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 | Loss | ATP Finals group stage |
| Tommy Paul | 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6 | Loss | Paris Masters round of 32 |
| Frances Tiafoe | 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 | Loss | US Open round of 16 |
| Richard Gasquet | 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 | Win | US Open third round |
Casper Ruud has had better fortune than his Thursday opponent, winning three of his last five competitive singles matches.
| Opponent | Result | Win/Loss | Competition and round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Fritz | 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) | Win | ATP Finals group stage |
| Felix Auger-Aliassime | 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 | Win | ATP Finals group stage |
| Lorenzo Musetti | 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 | Loss | Paris Masters round of 16 |
| Richard Gasquet | 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) | Win | Paris Masters round of 32 |
| Stan Wawrinka | 6-4, 6-4 | Loss | Swiss Indoors first round |
Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud will face one another in the group stage of the 2022 ATP Finals on Thursday, November 17.
Read More – ATP Finals 2022: Schedule, Format, Seeds, Prize Money, Dates, Live Streaming details
The 2022 ATP Finals will begin on November 13 (Sunday) and will last one week, ending on November 20. (Sunday).
| Date | Competition Stage |
|---|---|
| November 13-18 | Group Stage |
| November 19 | Semi-finals |
| November 20 | Final |
The group stage will be played in a round-robin format, with each team facing off against the other three teams in the group. The matches will be best-of-three, with tie-breaks in each set. The player rankings on the points table will be determined by the number of wins, the number of matches played, the H2H tie in the event of a tie, the highest percentage of sets won, the highest percentage of games won, and finally, the ATP rank at the end of the previous year-end event. Two players from each group will advance to the semi-finals, which will be followed by the final.
| Group Green | Group Red |
|---|---|
| Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |
| Taylor Fritz | Daniil Medvedev |
| Felix Auger-Aliassime | Stefanos Tsitsipas |
| Casper Ruud | Andrey Rublev |
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