It was all going so well for Rafael Nadal. He had fashioned a grass court comeback in Germany last week that looked to be easing the summertime blues that dogged him on his favoured clay, his self-belief was flooding back, his serve was purring like a Rolls Royce – and then he ran into an inspired Alexandr Dolgopolov at Queen’s on Tuesday.
All of a sudden the air seemed to be properly taken out of the Spaniard’s Wimbledon preparation – although he insists defeat has not lowered his spirits.
Dolgopolov, performing well above his world ranking of 79, outplayed the recently demoted world No10 on enough key points to go into the second round against Guillermo García-López on the back of a wholly deserved 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4 win in front of a stunned Centre Court audience that included the former manager of Nadal’s favourite club, Real Madrid, and current Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, as well as the player’s royal friend, the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos.
Nadal – who turned 29 during the French Open where he went out in the quarter-finals to Novak Djokovic in only his second loss there in a decade – did tremendously well to win his first grass court title since his Wimbledon triumph five years ago when he beat Victor Troicki in Stuttgart on Sunday.
In the first round here, he played well again but lacked the sharpness and killer edge of old to subdue an opponent who hit the ball with dazzling freedom from the first ball to the last, a forehand that whistled down the line to leave the Spaniard helpless at the net.
While Dolgopolov celebrated a second win in a row over Nadal after five straight losses against him, the loser left quickly to prepare for his evening doubles match alongside his compatriot Marc López. Nadal has some work to do if he is to go to Wimbledon in better shape than he left it last year, beaten by the young Australian Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round.
“I think my serve was the key,” Dolgopolov said courtside. “He only broke me once, in the third set – and that made me more confident on his serve. I risked more and it worked. I think it is tougher for him to play on grass. It is my best chance to beat him, but he is great everywhere.”
Nadal seemed nervous, as he had done during his clay court horrors before the French Open. Dolgopolov, whose 16 aces kept him pinned deep for much of the contest, had match point in the second set after an hour and 25 minutes but a backhand went wide.
It took Nadal an hour and 42 minutes to fashion his first break point and he took it with a vicious forehand that kissed the baseline in the third game of the concluding set. He struck his fifth ace for 4-2, got a time violation on break point in the eighth game and saved, but Dolgopolov levelled at 4-4 with the most delicate backhand volley.
As they went into a third hour, the energy was with the younger player, who saved a third break point with his final ace, forcing Nadal to serve to stay in the tournament. Dolgopolov had his second match point and this time made sure of it.
It is not often you get four slam winners – Nadal, Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Marin Cilic – playing on the same day in a tournament outside the majors, although some fans who were unaware that the field had been reduced to 32 complained there was no chance to see the leading players on the outside courts.
For those left on the wrong side of the moat, Nick Kyrgios made a puzzling admission after losing to Wawrinka in 49 minutes: “I almost found it difficult to get myself engaged and didn’t want to be there.”
The 20-year-old Australian is nursing a chronic elbow injury but also complained of having not felt well for a week.
He is in London with friends and has rented a house for a month to cover his commitment here and at Wimbledon, but sounded here as fed up as a kid who has had his scooter stolen.
He said: “Probably going to stay in my house for a couple of days and sleep, play computer games and chill out, not think about tennis, turn off all tennis channels, delete my ATP app, and just not think about tennis for a week or so.”
Wawrinka, who won 6-3, 6-4 and looked totally at ease with the switch from clay to grass after his victory at the French Open, wasn’t buying that. He likes Kyrgios but observed, “With him, you never know what’s happening in his mind. I think he’s enjoying his time. He’s the future of tennis.
“I have been trying to practise with him since many months but [he] didn’t find a time for that. First time I play him [in a] match, and, yes, he has a big game [but] today was not his best day, for sure – a lot of ups and downs.”
