"I wonder if we’re witnessing the end of Rafa" - Tennis fans criticize Rafael Nadal after his defeat to Taylor Fritz at ATP Finals

After losing his first round-robin match in Turin, Rafael Nadal finds himself in a situation that requires him to win four matches in a row to lift his maiden ATP Finals title.

Late entrant and debutant Taylor Fritz beat the Spaniard 7-6(3), 6-1 in one hour and 37 minutes on Sunday, leveling their head-to-head at 2-2. Both players served well throughout the first set and forced a tiebreak, where the experienced star committed a double fault in the beginning and gave the American a huge advantage. Ninth-ranked Fritz won the last five games of the second set to win his maiden year-end championships match.

The only way Nadal can replace Carlos Alcaraz as the World No. 1 is to go all the way and win the title in Turin. This is also the first time since 2009 that the Spaniard has lost three consecutive matches on the tour.

Seeing his poor form over the last couple of months, fans have raised concerns about the Mallorcan. Some even suggested that the 22-time Grand Slam champion followed Roger Federer and called it a day. However, knowing his ability to always bounce back, his fans remained hopeful for the future.

"I wonder if we’re witnessing the end of Rafa… I have thought this many times over the years but he always bounces back. Perhaps all those injuries & age are finally catching up with him. Still wouldn’t put it past him winning one last Roland Garros, though," a fan tweeted.

"As I said Rafa needs match time to assess whether he has any juice left for rebuilding. If he is finished so be it, almost 20 years is huge tennis legacy, if he can continue till 2024 Olympics, that will be golden, although unlikely," a user wrote.

"Nadal is simply NOT the best all court player ever - He's not the greatest tennis player ever either especially considering that he can't beat other top 7 guys back-to-back in order to win a Nitto ATP finals. He never won 3 top tier tournaments (Miami open, Bercy and ATP finals)," another tweet read.

Here are some more fan reactions:

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“I was not able to handle his power" - Rafael Nadal on Taylor Fritz

Rafael Nadal during his match on Sunday

In a post-match press conference, Rafael Nadal hailed his opponent Taylor Fritz, especially for the way he served right through the match.

"We can find different ways to explain what happened, at the end of the day, Fritz played very well,” he said. “I was not able to handle his power. It's obvious that on this kind of surface, you need to play very well. You don't have time to think for a tactic. Serving like Fritz served, then you are under pressure all the time. When somebody is serving that way, on the return he is going for every shot. It was just well played from him, not enough from me.”

The Spaniard will next take on Felix Auger-Aliassime in a must-win match for both players. The sixth-ranked Canadian player also lost his first match, going down in straight sets to Norway's Casper Ruud.