The match without bets between Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud at the Champions Tournament 2022 was won by the Iberian. The former ATP leader seemed to get into his rhythm a bit more and cruised through in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, against this season’s two-time Grand Slam finalist.

Rafa has suffered four straight defeats on the ATP circuit (defeats to Francis Tiafoe at the US Open, Tommy Paul at the Paris Masters, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger Aliassime on the Champions Tour) and used this no-bid match to take another step towards regaining his momentum.

With a serve that worked much better than in the other two matches in Turin, with a forehand that regained its aggression and accuracy, Nadal beat semifinalist Kasper Ruud (the Norwegian had already qualified for the game).

There were only two breaks in the whole match, and Nadal made them exactly at one point: 6-5 in his favor. The game lasted one hour and 44 minutes.

Nadal ends the 2022 season with 38 wins and 6 losses. This year, the Spaniard won four tournaments, two of which are Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open and Roland Garros). This year, Rafa collected $6,738,776 from tennis prizes alone.

The match between Félix Auger Aliassime and Taylor Fritz will determine the second Green Group semi-finalist in Turin. The match will take place on Thursday at 22:00 and you can watch it live on Eurosport.

Tournament of Champions 2022: Big battle for the semi-finals, two big favorites with suitcases full