Nadal’s Wimbledon Loss Not A Tragedy, But Changes Will Be Made

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 25th June 2013

Nadal’s Wimbledon Loss Not A Tragedy, But Changes Will Be Made

epa03758451 Steve Darcis of Belgium returns to Rafael Nadal of Spain during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 24 June 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Rafael Nadal was insistent his Wimbledon first round exit to 135th ranked Belgian Steve Darcis was ‘not a tragedy’ but the immediate future does look grim for the former world no.1 who admitted in Spanish that he will now go away, try to regroup, reevaluate and reassess how to move forward with his tennis career.

Nadal, who is known to suffer from the condition Hoffa Syndrome in his left knee that causes acute inflammation of the patella tendon, did admit that grass, rather than the more rigid hard court, is now the most difficult surface to play on.

The Wimbledon 5th seed, sidelined for more than seven months after suffering an equally shocking exit at the hands of Lukas Rosol at last year’s Championships, repeatedly refused to use his physical condition as an excuse for the 7-6,7-6,6-4 beating from Darcis.

But he did admit: “On grass it’s difficult to adapt your game when you don’t have the chance to play before and I didn’t find my rhythm. A couple of weeks ago I was in a fantastic situation, and now I’ve lost in the first round.

“But I try my best in every tournament. People only remember victories and I don’t want to remember the losses.”

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker even offered the suggestion that perhaps it would be better for 27 year-old Nadal to completely miss the grass court season going forward in his career. He opted to pull out of the warm-up tournament in Halle after winning the French Open for an eighth time despite signing a three year agreement to play the Gerry Weber Open.

“Grass is very different compared to the other surfaces,” said Becker. “Your movement is different and you have to have healthy legs because you’re changing direction, you’re slipping and sliding.

“Even though he won all those tournaments, Nadal had been struggling somewhat with the knee and I always thought he might struggle at Wimbledon this year. I almost thought that he should contemplate not playing because he was out for a long time and you shouldn’t underestimate it.”

And Nadal explained that the lower bounce on grass meant he had to play, and run, more often in a crouching position and the process of accelerating and quickly decelerating put more stress on his left knee that was once again adorned with that tell-tale restraining tape.

On Saturday, after looking extremely concerned on the practice court Nadal admitted he had difficulties on grass and after his defeat to Darcis he maintained: “I said is probably the toughest surface for me today, because I had to move, and I have to play in a lower position than in the rest of the surfaces. So that’s the real thing. I was not lying to nobody on Saturday.”

Nadal was insistent that he will recover quicker this time than he did year ago and maintained there will be no repeat of the seven months long absence but to the Spanish press he admitted: “Right now my only dream is to go home, think about decisions I made and to make logical decisions about his future.”

He added he was unsure which events, if any, he will play before the US Open but maintained he will definitely be at Flushing Meadows and said: “I can have a great tournament there.”

However Nadal was insistent he was not guilty of overplaying since his comeback on February; contesting nine events and winning seven of them. “I played when I had the feeling that I can play,” he said. “And my feelings were that I played the weeks that I felt right to play. I try to arrive as good as possible to this tournament, knowing that probably this year will be harder than ever, and it really was.”