Shocking first- round Grand Slam loss for Nadal
Spaniard eliminated by unheralded Belgian Darcis
LONDON — Just like that, in a span of 15 days, Rafael Nadal went from French Open champion for a record eighth time to first-round Grand Slam loser for the only time in his career.
Limping occasionally and slower than usual but unwilling afterward to blame an old left knee injury, the two-time Wimbledon winner exited 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 on Monday against 135th-ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium — one of the most stunning results ever at the All England Club.
“Nobody remembers the losses. People remember the victories,” Nadal said while shaking his head as he leaned back in a black leather chair. “And I don’t want to remember that loss.”
Everyone else definitely will.
His early defeat rendered moot all the debate in the preceding days about whether Nadal’s No. 5 seeding was appropriate or whether Wimbledon officials should have bumped him higher because of past success at the grass-court tournament.
In five appearances at Wimbledon from 2006-11 (he missed the 2009 edition because of knee trouble), Nadal reached the final five times. He won the 2008 and 2010 championships and was the runnerup to Roger Federer in 2006-07, then to Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Because of Nadal’s low-for-him seeding this time — his ranking slid during his time off — he wound up in the same half of the draw as seven-time champion Federer and second- seeded Andy Murray. A possible Nadal-Federer quarterfinal loomed, as did a potential Nadal-Murray semifinal. So much for that. “Pretty irrelevant right now,” said Murray, who won in three sets Monday, as did Federer. “It’s obviously surprising. But, you know, the consistency that Rafa, Roger, Novak have shown in the Slams over the last five, six years, it’s going to be almost impossible to keep that up forever.”
Meanwhile, it was a successful main draw debut at Wimbledon for Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. The Montreal native rallied to defeat Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Monday. Bouchard fired 29 winners and broke her opponent’s serve three times, coming back after losing the opening set and again in the third set after losing an early break. She had 25 unforced errors and three aces.
Later Monday, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil, ranked No. 99, beat 131st-ranked Marc Gicquel of France 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
Bouchard lost the first set when she sent a backhand long, but took the second against the 88th-ranked Voskoboeva after nearly an hour as she rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the tiebreaker.
In the third, Bouchard went up a break only to lose it three games later on a forehand error. But she got the break back for 5-4 and served out to win a game later on the first of three match points.
Bouchard will face former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the second round. The 12th-seeded Ivanovic defeated Virginie Razzano of France 7-6 (1), 6-0 on Monday.