Rafael Nadal is out after one match at Wimbledon, as he goes down in stunning fashion to Steve Darcis on Monday. Darcis is joined in the second round by Lleyton Hewitt, who upset Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets.
Steve Darcis d. (5) Rafael Nadal 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4
There will be no Federer vs. Nadal quarterfinal showdown at Wimbledon. In fact, there won’t even be a Nadal sighting in the second round. The two-time champion went down to Darcis in a first-round stunner on Monday afternoon at the All-England Club. Nadal, who was shocked by Lukas Rosol in the last 64 in 2012, bowed out of the tournament in two hours and 55 minutes.
“Good things today for me was not a lot of things good,” Nadal explained. “I had my chances. I didn’t make it. (It) is difficult to adapt yourself, to adapt your game (on grass). When you don’t have the chance to play before…I didn’t have that chance this year. I didn’t find my rhythm.”
Darcis, on the other hand, found a rhythm that he had never before enjoyed throughout his 10-year professional career–not even when he reached a career-high ranking of No. 44 in the world in 2008. The Belgian came out firing and appeared to take control when he seized the match’s first break at 5-5 in the opening set. Darcis failed to serve it out, but he won four of the ensuing tiebreaker’s last five points and clinched set point at 6-4 with a forehand volley winner.
Roles were partly reversed in the second frame of play, when Nadal broke at 5-5 then could not seal the deal in the 12th game. The world No. 5 was pushed to another tiebreaker in which he saved four set points (including three in a row starting at 3-6) and had a set point of his own at 8-7. Darcis fought it off on serve, held his next service point, then finally finished the job when Nadal sent a forehand just past the baseline.
It was all but over when the fifth seed dropped serve to begin the third, winning only one point in the process. Whereas Darcis had simply outplayed his opponent in the first two sets, Nadal was a shadow of himself in set three. The French Open champion clearly struggled with a knee issue, but Darcis kept his foot firmly on the pedal. Darcis saved one break point at 4-3 before serving out the match at 5-4 in impressive fashion.
Lleyton Hewitt d. (11) Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, turned back the clock and turned in a vintage performance at the All-England Club to see of Wawrinka in two hours and 12 minutes during first-round action. Coming off a runner-up finish to Nicolas Mahut on Saturday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Wawrinka was dealt a rude draw just two days later. The 10th-ranked Swiss played well in this one, but it was not good enough against an inspired opponent. Wawrinka struck 12 aces and two double-faults while hitting 44 winners to 37 unforced errors. Hewitt counter-punched in expert fashion and finished with 32 winners to just seven mistakes.
The 32-year-old Australian served out the first set at 5-4 and the second at 6-5 before pocketing an early break in the third. At that point Wawrinka had no answer for an adversary who came up with 16 winners and only four errors in set three. Hewitt wrapped up the proceedings in style with his sixth break of the day at 5-3. The world No. 70 will face Dustin Brown on Wednesday. Brown qualified for the main draw then destroyed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
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Can someone please make the point that in all three of these cases, Nadal was INJURED??! It is absolutely relevant. There’s nothing “stunning” about upsets over a top player who is injured.
Both of those matches were fantastic to watch on tv. Very competitive and thrilling tennis. I thought that Darcis just plain out-played Rafa, esp for the first 2 and 1/2 sets, and just a great gut effort by Rusty!