The legendary Spaniard was unable to resist the power of American Tommy Paul in 2e lap of the Parisian Masters 1000.
The Paris Masters 1000 is one of the few tournaments missing from Rafael Nadal’s list (the only Masters 1000 with Miami). The Spaniard, who had never been beaten when entering Paris, was strangled by the American Tommy Paul (25; 31e global). After an entry on the scene delayed by the marathon runner Gilles Simon applied to play the extension, Rafael Nadal had in mind not to hang around and especially to avoid the trap set by the American Tommy Paul. Surprised and broken at 2-1 in the 1is set, Rafael Nadal then took matters into his own hands so as not to let Tommy Paul get emboldened.
Leaping, hard-hitting, the Spaniard snatched the 1is set. He then signed a few nice points before being gradually tied up and failing to impose the fight he loves. The young dad then suffered the weight of the strikes and the speed of the spectacular and effective American.
After losing the 2e set in the tie-break, the Spaniard left the spun his entry service in the 3e set and lost the thread of the lost meeting 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 in 2h31. Nadal out of the way, a rarity.
A few kilometers from Roland-Garros where he collected 14 titles, the world n°2 who finished very hard lived a dark evening (at the end of a fatal day for young fathers, Daniil Medvedev having also been eliminated from the start ) him, whose last appearance on a court dated tears shared with Roger Federer during the Laver Cup, in London, on September 23.
For a place in the quarter-finals, Tommy Paul will, after the best victory of his career, be opposed to the Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta. Rafael Nadal who crossed the 3e set without really fighting will now turn slowly, if his body leaves him alone (he seemed not to force the service in particular), towards the Masters (from November 13 to 20 in Turin).
Round 2 results:
Tsitsipas (Gre, 5)-Evans (G-B) 6-4, 6-4
Tiafoe (E-U)-Draper (G-B) 6-3, 7-5
From Minaur (Aus)-Medvedev (Rus, 4) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
Musetti (Now)-Basilashvili (Geo) 6-4, 6-2
Auger-Also (Can, 8)-Ymer (Sue) 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6)
alcaraz (Esp, 1)-Nishioka (Jap) 6-4, 6-4
Dimitrov (Bul) -Fognini (Ita) 6-0, 7-5
Rune (Dan)-Hurkacz (pol, 10) 7-5, 6-1
Simon (From)-Fritz (EU, 9) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Carreno-Busta (Esp)-Shapovalov (Can) 7-6 (7/2), 2-6, 6-4
Paul (EU)-Nadal (Sp, 2) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1
