London, England) – After suffering a tough loss to Serbian Novak Djokovic on Wednesday, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime recovered very well and managed to beat Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the exhibition matches which take place at the sophisticated Hurlingham Club and which serve as preparation for Wimbledon.

Aliassime, who was on the same side of Nadal’s group in the Grand Slam which begins on Monday, won with equal margins of 7/6 (8-6), 4/6 and 10-3. Two days ago, Nadal had beaten the Swiss Stan Wawrinka with ease.

The first set didn’t see a single break point as both served effectively most of the time. Nadal, however, had a tight game to make 5/4, as he failed on the first serve. The Canadian won his first four service games without conceding a single point.

Nadal, however, never led the tie-break, although he reacted to two breaks and got draws. Aliassime reached 5-3 after a double fault, but failed and allowed 5-5 until finally closing on the second attempt. He finished the set with 13 aces and 82% of points won with the first serve.

Faced with a strong wind, the Spaniard finally managed the first break of the match to make 3/2 and from then on he was very firm. This time he was better than the opponent in points on first serve, reaching 75%, with four aces.

In the match-tie-break that decided the exhibition, Aliassime was very happy in at least two important games, including a backhand slice pass, and with that he opened wide 7-1. There he served with 8-3 and ended his good performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYQGd_3sT54