ATP upsets of the year - 2013

Rafael Nadal upsets

Belgium’s Steve Darcis celebrates beating Spain’s Rafael Nadal during their men’s first round match on day one of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament at the All England Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 24, 2013. Darcis won 7-6, 7-6, 6-4.

This was one Wimbledon which was all set to witness a merciless south paw in action. He was expected to stream roll past anyone with vengeance having suffered a heart breaking second round loss at the hands of 100th ranked Lukas Rosol just last year. Add to that – his unflappable clay court season which saw him conquering Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros stood as great testimony to what was in store for the ensuing grass and hard court seasons.

Steve Darcis who???? It was the question which was in everyone’s mind when they saw him dominating the match with his powerful ground strokes all the way before inflicting an abasing loss on the two time champion. In the end, the man who has always been regarded as arguably the toughest individual to beat on ATP tour was shown the door quite easily in straight sets. That defeat raised lots of questions on his ability to play on grass courts with lesser bounce. Are these back to back losses in Wimbledon against Rosol and Darcis going to have any sort of impact on the Spaniard’s future in SW19? Only time will tell.

Other upsets of Nadal

Vs Horacio Zeballos in VTR open Chile: Though he successfully marched his way into the final of his first tournament post injury layoff, the rusty looking Rafa could not overcome a stiff challenge posed by Horacio Zeballos who was able to bundle him out in three sets 6-7 7-6 6-4.

Vs David Ferrer in Paris Masters Semifinal: After having been thrashed many a time by his compatriot, Ferrer finally had something to cheer for as he stopped Nadal in the semifinals of the Paris Masters 6-3 7-5, thereby undoing the latter’s quest for a “ Roland Garros-Paris” double.