Taylor Fritz beats Rafael Nadal at ATP Finals, Casper Ruud downs Felix Auger-Aliassime

Rafael Nadal’s bid to win one of few titles missing from his glittering career started poorly as he was beaten in straight sets by eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz in ir opening match at ATP Finals on Sunday.

After a close-fought opening set, Fritz dominated second as American secured a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over top-seeded Nadal.

“It feels great. I felt like coming out first match, especially for my hopes of getting out of group, it was going to be really important,” Fritz said. “I came out and played a great match, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Fritz strengned his grip on match when he broke Nadal’s serve in fourth game of second set.

Nadal fought valiantly to stay in match and mand to save four break points in sixth game but Fritz prevailed at fifth time of asking to leave him serving for match. He closed it out when Spaniard sent a forehand long.

It was only Nadal’s second singles match since U.S. Open as he has struggled with injuries and also became a far for first time in October.

Nadal has never won ATP Finals title in 10 attempts. He finished runner-up in 2010 and 2013.

Earlier, third-seeded Casper Ruud, who lost in semifinals last year, eased to a straight-set victory over tournament debutant Felix Auger-Aliassime in or Green Group match.

match was largely dominated by serving and a solitary break in seventh game of second set proved eugh for rwegian player to secure a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Canadian.

“I think this is some of best level that I have played since U.S. Open,” said Ruud, who lost final at Flushing Meadows to Carlos Alcaraz. “ last couple of months have been a little bit of a struggle, I have to honestly say that, but you have to accept it as well.

“You will face difficult moments in your career, and maybe se last couple of months was one of those … It doesn’t matter how hard you practice if you don’t win matches, so today was a great win for me.”

vak Djokovic, Stefas Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev complete lineup in Turin.