A first-round exit for hobbling Nadal
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, 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. It certainly belongs in the same category as his loss a year ago at Wimbledon, in the second round to Lukas Rosol, a player ranked 100th at the time. After that setback, Nadal missed about seven months because of his bad left knee. Since returning, he had gone 43-2 and reached the finals at all nine tournaments he entered, winning seven.
Most recently, in Paris, he collected his 12th Grand Slam trophy, tied for third-most in history, while extending his winning streak to 22 matches.
“Two weeks ago, I was in a fantastic situation, winning a fantastic tournament,” Nadal said. “Two weeks later, I lost here in the first round. That’s the positive and the negative thing about this sport.”
In five appearances at Wimbledon from2006-11 (he missed the 2009 edition because of knee trouble), Nadal reached the final five times. Hewon the 2008 and 2010 championships, andwas the runner-up toRoger Federer in 2006-07, then toNovak Djokovic in 2011.
Nadal avoids discussing health issues in the immediate aftermath of a defeat— he didn’t reveal the left knee injury last year until weeks after the Rosol match — and Monday was no different. Still, anyone who watchedNadal play Darcis could tell somethingwasn’t right.
Nadal gave the 29-year-old Darcis kudos for playing well. Taking big swings and connecting time and again, Darcis finished with 53 winners to Nadal’s 32, while making the same number of unforced errors. Nadal would slump his shoulders or hang his head after misses, and there was a noticeable hitch in his step on some points.
“Nobody was expecting me to win. So I had to play a good match, relax and enjoy. ... That’s what I did,” Darcis said. “I really wanted to do something today.”
»