ATP Finals Daily Preview: Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz Revisit a Dramatic 2022 Rivalry - UBITENNIS
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ATP Finals Daily Preview: Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz Revisit a Dramatic 2022 Rivalry

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The field of eight at the 2022 ATP Finals (twitter.com/atptour)

The ATP Finals begin on Sunday in Turin, Italy, featuring eight of the best singles players and doubles teams of 2022.  Unfortunately World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz is absent due to injury, but the field is still rather strong, boasting 44 Major singles titles and three former ATP Finals singles champions.

 

The Green Group, which will play their round robin matches on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, consists of Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Taylor Fritz.  The Red Group, which will play on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, includes Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Novak Djokovic.

Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing matchup, while highlighting the other matches on the schedule.  Sunday’s play begins at 11:30am local time.


Rafael Nadal (1) vs. Taylor Fritz (8) – Not Before 9:00pm

Nadal is 38-6 in 2022, with four titles, two of which were Majors (Australian Open, Roland Garros).  As he has for much of his career, Rafa fought injuries throughout the year, but they severely impacted the second half of his season.  He has not won a title in nearly six months, and has only played six matches since withdrawing from Wimbledon after overcoming Fritz in an epic quarterfinal.  This is Rafa’s 11th appearance at the ATP Finals, which is the biggest tournament he’s yet to win.

This was easily the best season of Taylor’s career, with a record of 43-19, and three titles.  One of those is his first Masters 1000 title, as he defeated Nadal in the final of Indian Wells.  This is his ATP Finals debut, and he’s the first American to qualify since John Isner in 2018.

Nadal was significantly injured during both of their encounters this year.  At Indian Wells, where Fritz prevailed in straight sets, Rafa suffered a rib injury during his semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz, which would force him to miss six weeks of action.  At Wimbledon, where Nadal prevailed in a fifth-set tiebreak, he aggravated an abdominal injury and nearly retired during the match.  Their only other previous encounter was two years ago in the final of Acapulco, which Nadal won in straights.

Rafa is just 3-3 on hard courts since the summer, while Taylor is 15-8 on this surface during the same span.  As mentioned, this event has been a struggle for Nadal, who is just 20-16 lifetime at the ATP Finals.  And just two weeks ago in Paris, Rafa was clearly less than 100%.  On an indoor hard court, I give Fritz the slight edge to be victorious in his ATP Finals debut.


Other Notable Matches on Sunday:

Casper Ruud (3) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (5) – Ruud is 48-20 on the year, and reached his first two Major finals (Roland Garros, US Open).  Last year at this event, he advanced to the semifinals.  Auger-Aliassime is 56-25, and went on a tear this fall, winning three consecutive indoor hard court titles, and 16 straight matches.  This is his ATP Finals debut.  Casper is 3-2 against Felix at all levels, and 2-1 at tour level.  Ruud claimed their only match this season, in FAA’s home country, by a score of 6-1, 6-2.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer (3) vs. Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara (6) – Arevalo and Rojer won four titles this year, including Roland Garros.  Glasspool and Heliovaara won only one (Hamburg).  These teams met a few weeks ago in the final of Stockholm, with Arevalo and Rojer winning in straights.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (2) vs. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (7) – Ram and Salisbury collected three titles in 2022, including the US Open.  Granollers and Zeballos claimed one (Halle).  Ram and Salisbury were finalists here a year ago, while Granollers and Zeballos were semifinalists in both of the last two years.


Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Alexander Zverev Deserves More Respect According To Boris Becker

According to Boris Becker, Alexander Zverev deserves more respect from tennis journalists.

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Alexander Zverev (@WeAreTennis - Twitter)

Boris Becker has claimed that Alexander Zverev deserves more respect despite Zverev failing to live up to his potential at Grand Slams.

 

Zverev has only reached one Grand Slam final in his career despite being a regular inside the world’s top ten as well as performing at regular ATP events.

This season Zverev played a limited schedule after recovering from an ankle injury but still managed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

However most critics have been loud when judging Zverev’s career as it was looking likely that he would be a regular Grand Slam champion.

The German has failed to live up to expectations but former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes Zverev deserves more respect.

Speaking to Eurosport Becker also said that Zverev’s father being the coach is a more than successful approach when it comes to the former US Open finalist’s career, “In my opinion, he doesn’t get enough respect from the tennis experts internationally,” Becker explained.

“They’re all talking about the young three or four, but don’t give Zverev, Medvedev or Rublev enough respect. He’s playing with his fist in his pocket a little bit, wants everyone show that he is not a thing of the past, but that his best time is yet to come.

“Surely his father knows best what is good for his son, but if you look into the box at the competition, you can also see changes.”

Becker has followed Zverev for most of his career so knows that the best is yet to come from the German.

Alexander Zverev will look to prove himself next season when he starts his 2024 season when he represents Germany at the United Cup.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero Analyses Key Areas For Carlos Alcaraz’s Development

Juan Carlos Ferrero has outlined the next steps in Carlos Alcaraz’s development.

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(@tennisnewsbrazil - Twitter)

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero has analysed the key areas for the Spaniard’s development heading into the 2024 season.

 

The former world number one’s season has come to an end after a successful year which saw him win the Wimbledon title as well as winning two Masters 1000 titles.

Alcaraz capped off an incredible season by reaching the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

However there is a long way for the Spaniard to go if he wants to consistently go toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic.

Speaking to Marca Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about the Spaniard’s development and said that Alcaraz is too emotional, “Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot,” Ferrero commented.

“Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level. He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”

It’s clear Alcaraz’s high-quality is there but to consistently do it against Djokovic is another task altogether as the Spaniard looks to go from strength-to strength next season.

One area that is clearly a priority for Alcaraz is physical conditioning especially considering what happened against Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier in the season.

Ferrero said that will be a clear focus heading into 2024 but couldn’t guarantee that Alcaraz will play a tournament before the Australian Open, “Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends,” Ferrero stated.

“From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia. One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking.

“This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early. Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm.

“Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”

Alcaraz will be looking to play the Australian Open which starts on the 15th of January after the Spaniard missed last year’s tournament due to a leg injury.

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Australian Open Chief Confident Nadal Will Play But Kyrgios’ Participation Uncertain

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Nadal RG 2022 by Night (foto @RolandGarros)

The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is ‘certain’ that Rafael Nadal will play at the Grand Slam even though the Spaniard has yet to outline his comeback plans. 

 

Craig Tiley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday he hopes to receive some clarity over Nadal’s intentions in the next couple of weeks but is confident he will play. However, the tennis official had previously claimed in October that the former world No.1 had already committed to play in the event before his team denied that statement.  

Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that retirement next year is a possibility.

“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Tiley as saying. 
“He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.
“Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago.”

Earlier this month Nadal confirmed that he intends to return to the Tour but admits that he will continue to experience a degree of pain. Although he has yet to give any information about which tournament he will begin his comeback at. The 2024 season begins during the first week of January.

“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona.
“Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’

Will Kyrgios play?

Another player Tiley is eager to welcome back is home player and former Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios who has only played one Tour-level match this season due to injury. He underwent knee surgery in January and then tore a ligament in his wrist during the summer. As a result, the Australian currently doesn’t have an ATP ranking due to his inactivity. 

“We have spoken to Nick, and he obviously wants to do the best he possibly can to give him the best chance to play in January,” Tiley said of Kyrgios.
“Whether he’s playing, whether he’s doing something else, Nick will be here in January and to get him to play will be great. But we’ve got to take it as it comes and he’s got to make sure he takes care of his health …” 

Kyrgios recently worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel during this year’s ATP Finals in Turin and gave a brief update on his ongoing recovery during a segment. 

“After last year, I had such a great year, and I’m so hungry to get back out there,” the 2022 Wimbledon finalist commented.
“So I’m doing everything I can to get back out there. Obviously, you know how injuries are every day, just doing the rehab, doing the gym work.”

The Australian Open will begin on Sunday 14th January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions. 

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