22-time major champion Rafael Nadal lost to American Tommy Paul 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday night, continuing his unlucky run at the indoor event. It was Rafa’s first singles match since he fell to Frances Tiafoe in the US Open round of 16 in September.
Our champ now has just one tournament left this season after qualifying for the year-end ATP Finals in Turin.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
| viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
Winning two of the four GS this year is amazing👍👏 Congratulations to you and Iga🎉🎉
With you win or lose Rafa❤️ Vamos💪
Truly shattered, was hoping for more.
Every Rafa loss (at whatever stage) hurts but this was too early…. anyway with such little time on tour was never expecting him to win this, couldve at least got a few matches under his belt.
That said, im still optmistic (actually more hopeful) for the finals. With lesser time on tour Rafa is fresher. He has more time to go and practice and cover the shortage of court time there.
If he recovers his serve like he did at AO, its within his reach. And his opponents will underestimate his which will work to his advantage.
This is the last one for the year Rafa make it count, We know you can. Approx 5 matches, thats all. Then get a good rest and returns for hopefully a better year ahead.
Just get this one champ, its too big a trophy to be missing from your resume…..rather you are too big a player to be missing from its winners list.
C’mon Rafa 2022 WTF finals champ. We are all rooting for you. (Ive never rooted harder for you ever).
Perfect icing to the year
Not sure less matches favoures him when we all Rafa needs at least 3-4 matches to feel the court and get in the right winning mood. He didn’t get it in Paris and in Turin everyone will be even more hungry to beat him.
I share many of the concerns mentioned in the posts. The Paris Masters is my least favorite event. I thought Rafa looked okay in the first set, but then played poorly from then on. He was rusty and his serve motion did look compromised. I am preparing myself for Rafa’s last year on tour. The most important thing for me is that Rafa be happy and healthy. I trust he and his team to make the right decisions.
Every year about this time we all come and lament on Rafa’s woes in Paris masters:) I tried to not get excited this time around as I suspected this year would be no different. I followed the match, and indeed history has repeated:)
I am not disappointed. I really do not care for this tournament, and I’m glad it’s over. I can accept that Rafa may never win this one.
But what a year our champ has had! AO, FO, and most importantly, a baby boy!! Rafa can do no wrong this year. That’s 3 slams! Or 2 slams and the result of another slam;)
If Rafa chooses to compete in 2023, I expect a glorious year from our champ, in probably his final year on tour.
The foot hasn’t been confirmed by Rafa as an issue, so that’s a relief. Sorry, I was misled by a social media comment – silly me! It’s clear from Rafa’s post match presser that he never had expectations in Paris or Turin, mainly due to the lack of match play. He said he has “nothing to lose” going into Turin. In some ways Rafa looked at peace and accepting of the fact, even joking.
It’s clear that Rafa’s attention is on preparing for next year and trying to be in the best physical shape possible.
I couldn’t watch Rafa after the second set. It was too painful to watch. I wish he hadn’t played here and had just rested and concentrated on getting fit. Never have I seen him playing soo poorly. If it is something to do with the foot then that’s really bad and sad. Really afraid he’ll retire soon. Hope not too soon but will i be surprised?
I hope he picks up, wants to play on and gets healthy and strong!
VAMOS Rafa!
Too much videos with his newborn son at night did him in.
End the season and take some weeks off Rafa.
First of all i must say that i am a huge rafa fan. I never seen rafa playing si worst.
Maybe it is time to retire? With all his injuries and new son maybe thus time has arrived. For me seeing playing so worse was hard to watch and for that i must ask why he comback and played if his is not recovered?
Lile a premonition i thinck he will never win a grand slam anymore… he is old and fatique with all his injuries….
I realy hope to be wrong but that is my opinion.
Vamos Rafa until the end
Very painful to me to watch Rafa play so poorly . He has struggled bigly in losses to Coric , Tiafoe , Shopapolov and Fritz this year . Injuries and rustiness have been factors and I am hopeful but uncertain that Rafa can regain his form from the first half of 2022 .
I have to ask this question. Has Rafa’s ab injury really healed? He shouldn’t have played the USO or here if that’s the case. His serve was being returned at will and deep by both Paul and tiafoe and with hardly any free points. I remember 2009 all too well and rest is the only solution
As to be expected. Not surprising that he lost. He is after all a brand new dad. Even mentioned that he misses his little bubs.
Anyway, Rafa still qualifies for the ATP Nitto finals.
Rafa is no 1 in my books.
VAMOS Rafa 😁👍⭐️
It’s ok, Rafa. Onward and upward at Turin atp finals! The response in Rafa’s press conference suggests he is simply rusty and nothing more. No injuries were noted.
All the entries are saying basically the same thing. It was painful to see this champion struggle, he looked sluggish and very tired and thinner. Could be many reasons: the baby not letting him sleep enough, he also said he missed his son, then the 2 injuries…
Hope we can see him compete again soon but I would rather that he take a complete rest and then maybe start again
The foot pain probably the reason Rafa resorted to serve and volley tactics towards the end of the 3rd set, to shorten the points. Very sad.
Too many errors from Rafa. He looked more sluggish, a little list and exhausted as the match wore on. We have to cut him some slack as he’s match rusty. I was told that in a tv interview he said he was experiencing foot pain. That’s a real cause for concern and that will probably wrap up his season now.
Tennis Channel commentator Jim Courier said that Rafa is still not using his normal kick serve for second serves. Rafa is apparently not using the high toss because it would require that he stretch and thus injure his ab.
It sure doesn’t look like his current serve can win many matches. I hate seeing him struggle. Rafa has to get his serve back to have a chance to win in 2023, in my opinion
It was one of his worst performances sadly. Was painful looking at him struggling and frustrating by his own game tonight. Take relax Mr. Nadal.
Rough. First set was a small battle and Rafa just seemed a little off the rest of the match. Almost looked like he was not feeling well?? Hasn’t played since US Open – hopefully he will return to full form in the next few weeks. No matter what, we love you, Rafa. Vamos!!