Rafael Nadal suffered a disappointing exit from the Rome Open on Saturday, bowing out within the second spherical with a 6-1, 6-Three loss to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
This defeat to the seventh seed raises questions on whether or not the clay-court maestro will take part within the upcoming French Open, the place he boasts a document 14 titles.
Nadal has emphasised that his resolution to compete at Roland Garros hinges on his sense of competitiveness, significantly given his current string of harm setbacks.Presently ranked 305th on the planet, Nadal stays cautious about committing to the distinguished match.
And the way of his elimination in his first ever encounter with 27-year-old Hurkacz was a step backwards after reaching the final 16 in Madrid.
Nadal held his personal within the first two video games within the first set, which took 26 minutes to finish, however then fell away as errors handed Hurkacz factors.
The 37-year-old twice gave away breaks of serve with miscued drop pictures within the first set which Hurkacz closed out in 49 minutes as he blew by means of 5 straight video games.
And the match was pretty much as good as performed when Hurkacz, who didn’t drop a single service recreation, broke Nadal within the third recreation of the second set to arrange a well-known victory.
That degree of dominance over Nadal on clay, a lot much less a courtroom the place he has received a document 10 titles, would have been unimaginable just a few quick years in the past.
However Hurkacz will face Tomas Etcheverry within the third spherical after doubtless ending Nadal’s love affair with Rome because the 22-time Grand Slam winner seems set to name time on his profession on the finish of the season.
(With inputs from AFP)
This defeat to the seventh seed raises questions on whether or not the clay-court maestro will take part within the upcoming French Open, the place he boasts a document 14 titles.
Nadal has emphasised that his resolution to compete at Roland Garros hinges on his sense of competitiveness, significantly given his current string of harm setbacks.Presently ranked 305th on the planet, Nadal stays cautious about committing to the distinguished match.
And the way of his elimination in his first ever encounter with 27-year-old Hurkacz was a step backwards after reaching the final 16 in Madrid.
Nadal held his personal within the first two video games within the first set, which took 26 minutes to finish, however then fell away as errors handed Hurkacz factors.
The 37-year-old twice gave away breaks of serve with miscued drop pictures within the first set which Hurkacz closed out in 49 minutes as he blew by means of 5 straight video games.
And the match was pretty much as good as performed when Hurkacz, who didn’t drop a single service recreation, broke Nadal within the third recreation of the second set to arrange a well-known victory.
That degree of dominance over Nadal on clay, a lot much less a courtroom the place he has received a document 10 titles, would have been unimaginable just a few quick years in the past.
However Hurkacz will face Tomas Etcheverry within the third spherical after doubtless ending Nadal’s love affair with Rome because the 22-time Grand Slam winner seems set to name time on his profession on the finish of the season.
(With inputs from AFP)
