Tennis: Rafael Nadal falls in the 2nd round in Rome and misses his dress rehearsal before Roland-Garros

Rafael Nadal a enregistré samedi une des pires défaites de sa carrière face au Polonais Hubert Hurkacz XinHua – A Erbeituo¡¤lingeliya

Sèchement battu 6-1, 6-3 par le Polonais Hubert Hurkacz, l’Espagnol n’est sûr de rien à moins de trois semaines de Roland-Garros.

Two short laps and gone: Rafael Nadal, who is attempting a final return to the forefront at almost 38 years old, was soundly beaten during the 2nd round of the Masters 1000 in Rome, dress rehearsal for Roland-Garros .

The Spaniard lost to the Pole Hubert Hurkacz who clearly dominated him 6-1, 6-3. The former world No.1, now 305th in the ATP rankings after an almost blank 2023 season, had not been eliminated from the Roman tournament so prematurely since 2008.

For his farewell tour at the Foro Italico, where he won ten times, the last time in 2021, he fell against an opponent, 9th in the world, who ;rsquo;physically suffocated.

If the first two spectacular games lasted 14 and 12 minutes respectively, Hurkacz then took the upper hand by relying on his serve. The Pole, not really a clay court specialist, even though he won the Estoril tournament this year, won the first round in 49 minutes.

As in the first set, he took Nadal's serve, supported by an Italian public fully committed to his cause, from the third game and was no longer worried.

Only eight matches on clay before Roland

Nadal will approach his probable final Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9) having played only eight matches on clay, for a record far from his standards on his favorite surface . After his forced three-month break to treat yet another injury, he fell in the 2nd round in Barcelona, ​​in the 8th final in Madrid and did not make it past the 2nd round in Rome.

He still needs to really show up at Porte d’Auteuil: he in fact recalled this week that he will only be at Roland-Garros if he "feels good"

There are some (small) reasons for hope for "Rafa" before returning to the clay court of Paris where he won fourteen times: his battered body held up and he displayed a newfound confidence in each of his speeches in Rome.

A hell of a challenge to take on

But it's quite a challenge that awaits the Spaniard at Roland-Garros where the matches are played in three winning sets and are therefore longer.

Hurkacz has reinforced his reputation as the executioner of legends: the Pole is the last player to have faced in an official match, and therefore beaten, Roger Federer, in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon tournament in 2021. "Playing against Rafa is always special, especially on clay where he has such a track record and he has become a legend, I'm really happy with this victory", a he declared.

In the next round, he will face the Argentinian Tomás Etcheverry, earlier winner of the Brazilian Thiago Wild 6-3, 7-5. Novak Djokovic, the other attraction of the Roman tournament in the absence of the Italian Jannik Sinner, injured in a hip, is still in the running, but was the unwitting victim of an incident unusual Friday evening.

Djokovic doing well after "the water bottle incident"

At the end of his easily won match against Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1, Djokovic, 36, was knocked out by a water bottle that fell from the stands while’ he signed autographs for spectators below.

After a few hours of confusion, the organizers announced Friday evening that Djokovic had a minor injury to the top of his head which required the use of surgical glue. The Serb confirmed during the night that everything was fine and that he will be able to play his 3rd round match on Sunday.