RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) 鈥� With an eye on the Davis Cup, said he was pleased with his performance despite losing 6-3, 6-3 to Carlos Alcaraz at the Six Kings Slam on Thursday.
Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-7 (0), 6-4 in the other semifinal at the exhibition event that awards money but no ATP ranking points and is .
The match against Alcaraz was Nadal's first since he announced last week that he would be retiring after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup next month. Nadal and Alcaraz played doubles together at the Paris Games and could team up again for the Davis Cup.
鈥淚 have the Davis Cup in front (of me) in a month so every day is an opportunity to be better and better and be ready for this final tournament of my tennis career,鈥� Nadal said. 鈥淚 want to try my best to be ready for that and help the team in some way.鈥�
Thursday's match was the first contest for in July.
鈥淐arlos was too good. I haven鈥檛 been on the competitive stage since a couple months ago,鈥� Nadal said. 鈥淪o yeah I think it was a good performance, even if it was not enough to play against an animal like him. But it was a positive match for me and I鈥檓 happy.鈥�
Nadal will play Djokovic on Saturday in a third-place match before Sinner faces Alcaraz.
The was cleared in a doping case shortly before winning last month's U.S. Open, although .
met for real on Sunday, when the Italian won in straight sets for the Shanghai Masters title.
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AP tennis:
The Associated Press
