Match Details
Fixture: (1) Rafael Nadal vs (5) Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Date: November 15, 2022.
Tournament: ATP Finals 2022.
Round: Round robin.
Venue: Pala Alpitour, Turin, Italy.
Category: Year-ending championships.
Surface: Indoor hardcourt.
Prize money: $14,750,000.
Match timing: Not before 2 pm local time, 1 pm GMT, 8 am ET and 6:30 pm IST.
Live telecast: USA – Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video | India - Sports 18 & Voot.
Rafael Nadal vs Felix Auger-Aliassime preview
22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will take on World No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the group stage of the 2022 ATP Finals on Tuesday.
Nadal faced Taylor Fritz in his first group tie. Both players remained steady on serve in the opening set, though the Spaniard did face three break points across a couple of his service games. In the ensuing tie-break, it was the American who came out on top to take the set.
The second set was quite one-sided as Fritz lost just one game en route to winning the match 7-6 (3), 6-1. It marked a winning debut for the 25-year old, while Nadal's first appearance here in two years ended with a defeat.
Making his debut in the tournament, Felix Auger-Aliassime kicked off his ATP Finals campaign against Casper Ruud. Neither player got a whiff of a break point in the first set, which went to a tie-break. The Norwegian managed to edge out his opponent in it to clinch the set.
Both players started off strong in the second set, but it was Auger-Aliassime who blinked first as he lost serve in the seventh game to trail 4-3. After another couple of games, Ruud served out the match to defeat the Canadian 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Rafael Nadal vs Felix Auger-Aliassime head-to-head
Nadal leads Auger-Aliassime 2-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2022 French Open in five sets. This will be their first meeting on hardcourt.
Rafael Nadal vs Felix Auger-Aliassime odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Rafael Nadal vs Felix Auger-Aliassime prediction
After losing their first matches, both players are in need of a win in order to get a shot at making it out of the group stage. Auger-Aliassime looked a bit nervous in his match against Ruud as the occasion might've gotten to him a bit. It manifested in his gameplay as he made quite a few uncharacteristic errors and his backhand too wasn't up to the mark.
Nadal, on the other hand, couldn't handle Fritz at all. The American outplayed him in every metric and now faces an uphill battle. He was overpowered by his opponent and his serve deserted him in key moments. His fitness also remains questionable.
Nadal's shotmaking lacked in consistency and his forehand didn't pack a punch as usual. Both players will need to do more during return games as they failed to muster up a single break point in their previous match. Auger-Aliassime did serve well, which could give him an edge against the Spaniard.
Nadal is known to turn things around pretty quickly, but the odds are stacked against him this time. Based on their form, Auger-Aliassime is likely to emerge victorious in this encounter.
Pick: Felix Auger-Aliassime to win in straight sets.
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