One of the last matches in the career of the great Spaniard
At an exhibition tournament Six Kings Slamwhich is held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), a match for third place took place, in which Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal.
The match lasted 1 hour and 31 minutes. The opening game began with a break from the Serb, after which, during the set, Nadal once again gave Novak his serve. As a result, a defeat with a score of 2:6.
The second game turned out to be much more equal and tense. Novak and Rafa gave the audience a real show – each of them had plenty of break points, and in the end, each of the opponents gave the other two games on their own serve. The fate of the set was ultimately decided in a tiebreaker, where Djokovic was slightly more fortunate.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will play in the final of the Six Kings Slam tonight.
Recall that on October 10, Nadal announced the end of his outstanding playing career.
Nadal’s professional career on Tour started in 2001. He topped the ATP world rankings for 209 weeks. In total, he won 22 victories at Grand Slam tournaments, including 14 at Roland Garros (an all-time record), and the Spaniard won each of the four majors at least twice. Rafael is also a two-time Olympic champion: Beijing 2008 – in singles, Rio 2016 – in doubles.
The Spaniard missed almost a year due to injury, returning to tennis only in January 2024. At the Australian Open, Nadal was eliminated in the second round, at Roland Garros 2024 he was immediately eliminated by Zverev, and he missed two more majors – Wimbledon and the US Open.
Nadal will sum up his eventful and glorious career in the final tournament of the Davis Cup for 8 teams, which will be played from November 19 to 24 in Malaga, Spain.
- Six Kings Slam. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Third place match
Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 4) — Rafael Nadal (Spain, 153) — 2:0 (6:2, 7:6(5))
Source: Sportarena
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
