Rafael Nadal of Spain, ranked number five in the world, lost the opening round at the Wimbledon Championships. This is the first time in his career that he was out of a Grand Slam at the first round. After 2 hours 55 minutes, 29-year old Steve Darcis of Belgium, ranked #135, won the match at 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4. The match on Court 1 of the All England Club was Rafa’s first game on grass this year. The 27-year old native of Majorca won the 2013 Roland Garros title (French Open) in Paris and entered the Wimbledon Championships with high expectations.
Nadal seems to be having a bad Wimbledon stretch having lost to Lukas Rosol in the second round last year. In the past seven years, Steve Darcis is the lowest ranked player to beat Nadal who won the Wimbledon title twice (2008 and 2010).
Not the right time
Rafa presented a determined stance at the post-game press conference. When asked to comment about his physical condition, the former world number one said that it was not the right time to talk about his injured knee. He congratulated his opponent said that his loss was not a tragedy. He said in earnest that he was confident of his recovery and intends to prepare for the next tournaments. According to Darcis, Rafa was running and moving well during the game and it did not look as if the former Wimbledon champion was having problems with his knee again.
Breakthrough
Darcis managed six break points in the first four service games of his opponent. The breakthrough came for him at 5-5 in the first set when Nadal’s forehand failed, but he was unable to sustain it. Nadal arrived at 6-6, but Darcis went for the tie-break at 7-4. The first set lasted for an hour and eight minutes.
The second set was just three minutes shorter than the first and Darcis proved the dominant player even as Nadal tried to find his way back in the game. At 6-5 with Darcis dropping serve and Nadal on the lead, the latter failed to serve it out and Darcis overwhelmed the Spaniard during the tie-break. Nadal lost his serve at the very outset of the third set indicating the first true sign of struggle for the injured player.
Steve Darcis
Darcis said that having played three tournaments on grass before Wimbledon probably helped him win the first round over Rafa. He attributed his win to good service. He also said that Nadal did not play his best tennis and that “you don’t beat Nadal if he’s playing his best tennis.”
This year is Steve Darcis’ fourth time at Wimbledon where his best performance was a second round game in 2009 which he ended up losing. In 2012, Darcis failed to make it beyond round one. He consistently failed to reach the second round in 12 of 18 Grand Slam events. Nevertheless, Darcis showed promise on the grass court when he beat Tomas Berdych (#6) at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Injured King of Clay
After his Wimbledon 2012 loss to Rosol, Rafa Nadal did not participate in the London Olympics. He did not compete in the US and Australian Open as well due to knee tendinitis. He returned to the sport in February of this year. On his return, Nadal reached the final in all nine tournaments he entered and won seven of them. Eight of the tournaments were on clay, his favored surface.
Photo Credit: Rafael Nadal
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