Rafael Nadal suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals, which leaves him in danger of losing the world number one spot this week.
The Spaniard was comfortably beaten by the German in London, who is looking to defend the title he won in the English capital last year and claimed his first win over the 19-time Grand Slam winner.
Nadal can still make the semi-finals but must come up with victories over Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas to keep his hopes of a first ATP Finals title alive.
However, keeping hold of the world number one spot is now out of the 33-year-old’s hands as Novak Djokovic can take it from him by winning the tournament with five straight victories.
Nadal is not thinking about that, though, and is simply trying to ‘stay positive’ after a below-par performance, which he refused to blame on his recent stomach injury.
‘Yes, it was not a problem with the abdominal at all. I did not feel pain in the abdominal at all,’ Nadal told a press conference after the defeat.
‘No, just Sascha, well played, and me, bad played, honestly. We can find reasons or excuses, but at the end of the day, what all really matters is I need to play much better in two days after tomorrow. That’s the only thing.
PEAK ALEXANDER ZVEREV!
This might just be shot of the tournament ?
?: @TennisTV | @AlexZverev | #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/e1emNM0hLj
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 11, 2019
‘Yeah, we knew that going to be tough at beginning, because the period of time since the injury until today is very short, but we are here trying, and that’s it, no?
‘I stay positive. I stay competitive, something that today I was not. That’s the thing that I am more disappointed, because knowing that I will not be at my 100% in terms of feelings, in terms of movement, in terms of confidence or hitting the ball, I needed my best competitive spirit this afternoon, and I was not there in that way.
‘So that’s the thing that I’m disappointed with.’
Nadal returns to action on Wednesday afternoon against Medvedev, with Zverev playing Tsitsipas in the evening of the same day.
Before then, Djokovic has the chance to keep up his perfect start to the tournament when he face Dominic Thiem on Tuesday evening at The O2.
MORE: Stefanos Tsitsipas finally beats nemesis Daniil Medvedev in ATP Finals opener
MORE: Roger Federer bemoans slow start after ATP Finals defeat to Dominic Thiem
