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Rafa Nadal: his worst streak in 14 years

The tennis superstar is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in his career after losing to Felix Aliassime in the ATP Finals.

Update:
The tennis superstar is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in his career after losing to Felix Aliassime in the ATP Finals.

Game, set, and match. What tennis fans would likely be hearing right after that sentence is ‘Rafa Nadal’, if the Spaniard was on the tennis court, but lately the chair umpire is pronouncing the name of his opponent.

The 22 Grand Slam winner has never lifted any ATP Finals title and this year that won’t happen either after losing to Tayor Fritz and Felix Auger-Alliassime.

Despite his defeat to the Canadian rising star (3-6, 4-6), Nadal has not been eliminated from contention for year-end No. 1 in the ATP rankings.

Casper Ruud won a set against Fritz on Tuesday evening, so Nadal was eliminated from semi-final contention in Turin and therefore Carlos Alcaraz will clinch year-end World No. 1.

The worst Nadal since 2009

The defeat against Aliassime marked only the seventh defeat Rafael Nadal has endured all season which saw him win 38 matches and four titles overall, including the Australian Open and the French Open.

However, his last four games have ended up in defeat, losing to US players Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, and the Canadian Alliassime.

In 2009, Nadal experienced the same losing streak at the same moment of the year. Back then he lost to Novak Djokovic twice, Robin Soderling, and Nikolai Davydenko.

Nadal’s worst losing streak in his career took place between 2003 and 2004, when he was only 17. The lost to Dominik Hrbaty, Àlex Corretja, Feliciano López, Victor Hanescu and Thierry Ascione.