Another Wimbledon, Another Early Exit for Rafa Nadal

By hugree on June 24th, 2013

Rafael Nadal was sensationally beaten in the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon. He lost a round earlier than he did last year and suffered his first ever first round exit at a Grand Slam. Steve Darcis, currently No. 135 in the ATP Rankings, won 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4. Seems like the loss didn’t have the same shock value as last summer’s defeat to Lukas Rosol. After all, at the weekend he had been saying that grass is now the toughest surface for him and his cranky knee, because he has to get lower to the ground to strike the ball. “In this surface, on grass, all the matches are close. Matches can be decided for a few balls. So if you are not 100 percent focused and you’re not at your 100 percent of energy and playing well, you are in big trouble.” Rafa declined to actually say he was injured: “Is not the right day. I tried my best out there in every moment. It was not possible for me this afternoon. I don’t want to talk about my knee this afternoon. All I want to say is congratulations to Steve Darcis. Anything I say about my knee is an excuse.” A year ago, Nadal’s second-round departure led to a seven-month sabbatical. Hopefully that’s not the case this time!!!