Taylor Fritz stunned Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 6-1 to make a winning debut at the ATP Finals in Turin while Norway’s Casper Ruud kick-started the round-robin stage earlier on Sunday with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Spanish top seed Nadal arrived in Italy having only competed in one singles match since his fourth-round US Open loss two months ago and his lack of recent competition showed as he was unable to keep pace with Fritz as the match wore on.
“ I need more matches to play at this kind of level, even if I am practising well, much better than how I am competing, without a doubt. That’s normal,” Nadal told reporters.
“At the end is not the ideal tournament and probably part of the season to come back after a couple of months without being on the tour because you don’t have time to get confidence.”
It was Nadal’s second singles match since the US Open as he has struggled with injuries and also became a father for the first time in October.
