Nadal loses to 135th-ranked player at Wimbledon

LONDON — In one of Wimbledon’s greatest upsets, an ailing Rafael Nadal was knocked out in straight sets Monday by a player ranked 135th — the Spaniard’s first loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam event.

Steve Darcis of Belgium stunned the two-time champion 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4. He ended Nadal’s 22-match winning streak and eliminated one of the Big Four of men’s tennis on the very first day of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Nadal was sidelined for seven months with a left knee injury after losing in the second round of Wimbledon last year. He seemed to be struggling physically. He was unable to turn on the speed or use his legs to spring into his groundstrokes, limping and failing to run for some shots.

Darcis was as surprised as everyone else with the result.

“Rafa Nadal didn’t play his best tennis today,” the 29-year-old Belgian said. “The first match on grass is always difficult. It’s his first one. Of course, it’s a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could, not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today.”

Nadal was coming off his eighth championship at the French Open last month but, on this day, he never looked like the player who has won 12 Grand Slam titles and established himself as one of the greatest players of his generation.

It’s the second straight early Wimbledon exit for Nadal, who was ousted in the second round last year by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.

After that loss, Nadal took the rest of the year off to recover from the knee problem. Since returning to action this year, he had made it to the finals of all nine tournaments he entered, winning seven.

After winning the French Open, Nadal pulled out of a grass-court tuneup in Halle, Germany. He came to Wimbledon without any serious grass-court preparation.

Darcis is the lowest ranked player to beat Nadal at any tournament since Joachim Johansson — ranked No. 690 — defeated the Spaniard in 2006 in Stockholm.

Gustavo Kuerten, in 1997, was the last reigning French Open champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon.

Darcis, who had won only one previous match at Wimbledon, played the match of his life Monday, going for his shots and moving Nadal from corner to corner. Darcis amassed a total of 53 winners, compared with 32 for Nadal.

Darcis finished the match in style, serving an ace down the middle — his 13th — as Nadal failed to chase after the ball.

Earlier, Roger Federer began his bid for a record eighth title at the All England Club with the same dominance that has defined his grass-court greatness.

Ten years after his first Wimbledon championship, Federer opened the tournament on Centre Court as defending champion and looked right as home as he dismantled Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.

This was a grass-court clinic from Federer that lasted 68 minutes. He had 32 winners, seven aces and just six unforced errors.

He won 90 percent of the points when he put his first serve in. When his serve is clicking, Federer usually is unbeatable. On this day, he won his first 15 service points and 24 out of the first 25.

“I’m happy to get out of there early and quickly,” Federer said. “So it was a perfect day.”

Earlier, Wimbledon produced an upset in the women’s draw with fifth-seeded Sara Errani eliminated by Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig 6-3, 6-2.

Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka overcame a right knee injury from a scary fall beating Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal 6-1, 6-2.

 

Rafael Nadal Loses In First-Round Upset At Wimbledon

Steve Darcis of Belgium, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain Monday, after winning their first-round match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

 Steve Darcis of Belgium, left, shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain Monday, after winning their first-round match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.


Rafael Nadal has been bounced from Wimbledon, after being dismissed in three sets by Belgium's Steve Darcis, who is ranked No. 135 in the world. Nadal's upset loss by 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 stunned tennis fans, shook up the men's bracket, and raised questions about the Spanish star's health.

Nadal, 27, has been hampered by knee problems in recent years. But he refused to blame Monday's loss — his first ever in a Grand Slam tournament's opening round — on a possible injury. He struggled with his backhand Monday and never took control of a match that lasted nearly three hours.

By contrast, Darcis played well from the start, with an effective serve and slicing shots that gave Nadal trouble.

Another factor in the match may have been Nadal's comfort level playing on grass. After winning the clay-court French Open earlier this month, Nadal didn't play in any of the grass-court tournaments many players use to adjust to the surface.

"Rafa Nadal didn't play his best tennis today," Darcis said after his win. "The first match on grass is always difficult. It's his first one. Of course, it's a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could, not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today."

Calling it "a well-deserved victory for Darcis," ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe noted that Nadal is sometimes seen as vulnerable early in tournaments, particularly on grass. And he noted that Nadal's knee didn't seem to be an issue until late in the match.

Asked about his fitness after the loss, Nadal instead took the opportunity to congratulate Darcis for playing well. He told reporters, "This is not the time to talk about these sort of things. I don't want to talk about my knee."

"I tried my best out there in every moment. It was not possible for me," Nadal said. "It is not a tragedy."

If he had advanced as many expected, Nadal would have been on track to meet seven-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer, who defeated Scotland's Andy Murray for last year's title, won his first match of the 2013 tournament by beating Victor Hanescu in three sets.

Because Nadal was seeded fifth at Wimbledon — a slot that matches his current world ranking — the Spaniard was placed in the same side of the bracket with Federer and Murray, leaving world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to contend with No. 4 seed David Ferrer, among others.

A two-time winner at Wimbledon and an eight-time champion at the French Open, Nadal was also upset last year at the All England Club, in Wimbledon's second round. After that loss, he took the rest of the tennis season off to recuperate his knee.

"Last year I played here because it is a tournament that I love, but I was not ready to play," Nadal said the day before his match with Darcis. "After Roland Garros I felt that my knee was not there anymore. After here I was not able to complete in one more tournament during the rest of the season."