Rafael Nadal’s newest bid to lastly land the primary ATP Finals title of his profession began with a defeat by American eighth seed Taylor Fritz.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, runner-up in 2010 and 2013, misplaced 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.
Fritz is making his debut on the season-ending occasion and his relentless returning was an excessive amount of for Nadal.
In the identical group, Norwegian third seed Casper Ruud made a successful begin with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory over Canada’s seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Turin event sees eight of one of the best males’s gamers of the season cut up into two teams of 4, with the highest two qualifying for the semi-finals.
Spain’s world primary Carlos Alcaraz withdrew due to harm, which led to first alternate Fritz taking his place.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, aiming for a record-equalling sixth title, begins in opposition to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday, with Daniil Medvedev dealing with his fellow Russian Andrey Rublev within the different contest.
Whereas there aren’t any British gamers within the singles occasion, three males from the nation are competing within the doubles.
Former world primary Joe Salisbury, seeded second with American Rajeev Ram, gained 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 10-8 in a rollercoaster match in opposition to seventh seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos on the opening day.
Lloyd Glasspool and his Finnish accomplice Harri Heliovaara are making their debut within the occasion and the sixth seeds opened with a 7-5 7-6 (7-3) triumph in opposition to Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.
Neal Skupski, who has been a part of the world’s greatest crew this yr, performs on Monday.
Skupski and Dutch accomplice Wes Koolhof have loved unimaginable success of their first yr collectively, successful seven titles which have included Masters 1000 victories in Madrid, Montreal and Paris, and ending 2022 as year-end world quantity ones.
The pair open Monday’s play in Turin in opposition to Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
