Rafael Nadal’s Future In The ATP Finals Hangs In The Balance Despite Monster Win - UBITENNIS
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Rafael Nadal’s Future In The ATP Finals Hangs In The Balance Despite Monster Win

It was another dramatic victory for the top seed in London, but will it be enough to keep him in the tournament?

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LONDON: Rafael Nadal’s future fate in this year’s ATP Finals is up to one of his rivals in the competition after he closed out his round-robin campaign with an epic win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Nadal, who secured the year-end No.1 spot yesterday, fought from behind to record a roller-coaster 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, win at The O2 Arena. Spending almost three hours on the court to avoid suffering multiple losses in the group stage of the tournament for the first time since 2011. Throughout the Monmouth battle, he hit six aces along 38 winners without facing a single break point in the entire match.

“I did all the things I could do today,” Nadal said afterward on the court. “I fought until the end. If I am able to play in front of you (the crowd) tomorrow against Roger it would be a huge honor.’
“If not, I hope to see you next year.” He added.

The London showdown was a clash of two different scenarios. Nadal knew that he had to win the match to even have a chance of progressing to the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time since 2015. In contrast, Tsitsipas had the luxury of knowing that regardless of how he performs he is through to the last four no matter what.

Despite the stakes being significantly higher for Nadal, Tsitsipas was not set on taking it easy. The opening set saw both players stan firm behind their service games as neither refused to buckle. Nadal’s attacking play was muzzled by Tsitsipas’ defensive capabilities. Creating a level playing ground between the two despite the world No.1 winning four out of their five previous meetings.

49 minutes passed with no break point opportunities occurring in Nadal’s must-win encounter. Paving way for a tiebreak where ironically the difficulty for both men was trying to hold their serve. Exchanging mini breaks between each other twice, it would be Tsitsipas who scored a decisive blow. A Nadal backhand into the net followed by another shot going beyond the baseline moved the Greek to his first set point. Cheered on by a huge roar from the London crowd, he clinched the lead with the help of a 134 mph ace.

Nadal would once again need to draw upon his warrior-like fighting spirit to turn his fortunes around. Emulating his heroics against Daniil Medvedev two days ago. Bursts of frustration from the 33-year-old erupted throughout the second set as he got within a point of breaking Tsitsipas on multiple occasions, but failed to do so. Despite his shortfalls, the breakthrough finally occurred during the business end. At 4-4, two games away from defeat, he wore down Tsitsipas’ serve to move ahead 5-4. Prompting an emphatic fist pump from the Spaniard as he took proceedings into a decider.

With all to play for, Nadal maintained a high level of intensity in his shot-making as the titanic clash continued. Electrifying the crowd in what was one of the best matches of this year’s tournament. The final set once again featured little disparity between the two, but it would be Nadal who would prevail. At 5-5 in the decider, an unsuccessful approach at the net from Tsitsipas resulted in the top seed breaking. Triggering jubilation among the Nadal contingent in the crowd. Serving for the win, he sealed it at the expense of another mistake from his rival. This time it was a shot into the net from the Greek.

Moments after his thrilling triumph, Nadal was presented with the year-end No.1 trophy for the fifth time in his career. Making it a double celebration.

“I am super happy. Honestly, after all the things I went through in my career in terms of injury, I never thought at the age of 33-and-a-half I would have this trophy in my hands again.” Said Nadal.

The chances of the world No.1 being in the semi-finals now lies in the hands of Medvedev. The Russian must defeat Alexander Zverev in his match later tonight. If he doesn’t, Nadal will be eliminated from the competition. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas must wait to see if he finishes first or second in the group. If Nadal does qualify, he will play Federer next.

Regardless of if he makes it or not, Nadal has paid tribute to those close to him during what has been a mixed season. Besides his two Masters 1000 and two Grand Slam titles in 2019, he has also been affected by various injury setbacks. The ATP Finals is the first event he has been able to complete since the US Open in September.

“It’s really emotional. There has been a lot of work to get me where I am today. Without my team and family this thing would have been impossible.” He reflected.
“There have been some bad moments and you have always been there. Before Monte Carlo, after Monte Carlo, without the support of these people, things would have been much different for me this year. I can’t thank them enough.”

Nadal has now won 53 matches this season.

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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(@BNPPARIBASOPEN - Twitter)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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