Wimbledon 2013: King of clay Rafael Nadal dethroned early on grass

Steve Darcis of Belgium shakes hands at the net with Rafael Nadal of Spain after their Gentlemen’s Singles first round match on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 24, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal‘s comeback after a tedious seven-month knee injury setback floored many. The king of clay looked as if he had never been away. He had won 43 of his 45 matches since he returned to the court in February. The victory at the Roland Garros final was a thumping one in which he blew away David Ferrer in three straight sets. Weeks before the Wimbledon, all the talk had centered upon Nadal’s seeding but nobody could have predicted that it would all be quite futile. Rafael Nadal, eight-time French Open and two-time Wimbledon Champion, bowed out of the grass court grand slam in the first round facing a shock defeat in three straight sets to Belgian Steve Darcis.

The upset, quite shocking in itself, is made most astonishing by the fresh memory of Nadal’s French Open triumph and forces us to ponder upon the ephemeral nature of success in sport. Rafael Nadal suffered a similar upset at Wimbledon last year to Lukas Rosol in the second round. Nadal did not look confident in his movement on grass and was a shadow compared to the champion we saw at Rome, at the French Open. The transition from clay court to grass court is a very difficult one and unfortunately Nadal did not have a lot of work done before the tournament. He played no competitive matches prior to the grand event and that seems to have hurt him badly.

The grass court is a particularly difficult surface for Rafael Nadal, especially now after his critical injury. It puts a lot more stress on his knees because the ball does not have the hard court bounce and you have to bend down a lot more. The first week of the tournament is all the more tricky in that aspect as the surface is softer, more slippery and a lower-ranked opponent can spring a surprise. He was definitely struggling with his body as he could not call upon the speed and the reaction that he usually has. He was struggling to make ground to make his shots and had no answers for Darcis when he was called upon to rush to the net. As the match proceeded, his ground-strokes suffered and a slight limp became prominent in his stride.

Whatever the weaknesses were, that is something that Nadal could have perhaps assessed by participating in a competitive event. He brushed aside the excuses himself. He said, “I don’t … talk about my knee this afternoon. Only thing that can be said today is congratulations to Steve Darcis. He played a fantastic match. Everything that I will say today about my knee is an excuse, and I don’t like to put any excuse when I’m losing a match like I lost today.”

There is not doubt about the fact that it was his weakest performance at a grand slam event in years. He was aware of his mistakes and expressed his disappointment after the match. He said, “The opponent played well. I had my chances. I didn’t make it. So in grass (it’s) difficult to adapt yourself, to adapt your game. When you don’t have the chance to play before, I didn’t have that chance this year, is tougher. I didn’t find my rhythm.”

While an upset of this sort is exciting for the neutral to watch, it creates a gap in the draw for yet another player to fill in. It is unfortunate that Nadal was not on the top of his grass-court game this year and his exit means that we’ll be deprived of some mouth-watering clashes. The newspapers were already building up to a possible meeting with Roger Federer in the quarter finals.

At the end of the day, one must acknowledge Nadal’s display and Darcis’ effort. The Spaniard’s weaknesses, whatever they were, were exploited masterfully by Steve Darcis who must be given credit for taking his chance. He must have been aware of the opportunity he had as Nadal has often been gingerly on the grass court in the first few rounds.

The world no. 135 who has never gone beyond the third round at a grand slam event did well to temper his nerves in the tie-break points. It could have gone anywhere from there had he lost one set of the two which went into tie-break. He served thirteen aces in the game taking advantage of Rafa’s slow movement on the court and tormented him by using the sliced shot. He will have an opportunity to express his talent further in this tournament and he should make the best of it. He meets Poland’s Lukasz Kubot in the next match.

On the other hand, quick reactions about such an upset are bound to be either sympathetic assessments or hasty predictions. Three time Wimbledon winner Boris Becker has called upon Nadal to reconsider his future on grass. Grass is certainly a challenge for Rafael Nadal but there is no reason why he can’t prove his critics wrong next season.