Rafael Nadal has fallen this Friday before Felix Auger-Aliasimus by 7-6(6), 4-6 y 10-3 in his second match in the exhibition of Hurlingham. On a windy day, the Canadian won the match in the ‘supertie-break’ after the equality marked the two preceding sets.
Beyond the defeat, Nadal has once again shown good sensations with the right and with the reverse. The buts, the many chances granted to his uncle Toni’s pupil with the second serve in the match, a circumstance that has paid in the initial tiebreaker and in the final one.
Despite this, Nadal has signed a solid first set, enduring the slipstream of an untouchable Auger-Aliassime with his first serve. With no break options for one or the other, the set headed for a tie-break in which Rafa suffered.
The Spaniard has been behind in it, with four mini-breaks delivered to serve. Nadal has clung to the game to immediately recover each of the top three, but has yielded the room for an 8-6 against that sent him down to the second sleeve.
Nadal has been more incisive in it. After the 2-2, the Spanish has turned to the attack, hitting with ease forehand and backhand to provoke the errors in the racket of an Auger-Aliassime that has yielded the break. Nadal has not wavered since then, keeping his serves blank to force with a 6-4 the final tiebreaker.
In an exhibition match, this has been a ‘supertie-break’. In it, Nadal has been erratic from the start with his backhand, delivering a mini-break for 1-2 and a later point for 1-4. To the errors of the Spanish were added the deep restos from Auger-Aliasimus, which has shot up to 1-8 taking advantage of Nadal’s problems to get rid of some balls. With the tiebreaker well on track, Felix only had to wait for his turn to serve to seal the match. 10-3 definitive.
Nadal has thus given up the match, who is already looking at Wimbledon, with his debut scheduled for next Tuesday against Francisco Cerundolo. However, with the filming acquired these days, both in the two games in Hurlingham and in several training sessions, and with no trace of the problem in his foot, the Balearic seems to arrive with guarantees to face the third Grand Slam of the season.
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