Nadal writes off giant killer Rosol
Source: Agencies |
June 30, 2012, Saturday
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RAFAEL Nadal wrote off his sensational Wimbledon loss to Lukas Rosol as an accident of sport and challenged the Czech, ranked 100 in the world, to make any further headway in the tournament.
World No. 2 Nadal, the 11-time grand slam title winner, suffered one of the greatest shocks in history against a man whose only five other Wimbledon visits had ended in first round defeats in qualifying. "I played against an inspired opponent and I am out. That's all. It's not a tragedy. It's only a tennis match," said Nadal, who had played in the last five grand slam finals.
"At the end, that's life. There are much more important things. Sure, I wanted to win, but I lost. It's not a tragedy."
Nadal praised Rosol's performance which was wrapped up by three aces - out of a total of 22 - in the decisive last service game and punctuated by service returns measuring up to 90mph.
It gave the 26-year-old Rosol an historic 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 second round win, a rich reward for a blistering display of sustained free-swinging.
But Nadal said he doubted if the Czech could repeat his heroics in the rest of the tournament which begins with a last 32 clash against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Ironically, it was Kohlschreiber who knocked Nadal out of the Halle grasscourt event at the quarterfinal stage in the run-up to Wimbledon.
"He didn't do it the past, but you never know what's going on in the future. The thing is today he played great," said the Spaniard. "If he played the way he played the fifth set, you can win against everybody. But I think everybody who follows tennis knows that that's very difficult to do every day. But if he's able to do it this time, he will have his chance. I wish him all the best."
Nadal had been upset about Rosol's behavior as he was preparing to return the Spaniard's serve, and complained about it to the chair umpire during one changeover in the third set. Two games later, Nadal bumped into Rosol as they walked to their chairs for a break.
Rosol said he thought Nadal was simply trying to mess up his concentration.
"I was surprised that he can do it on the Centre Court at Wimbledon," Rosol said. "It's like something wrong. ... I thought that he wants to let me go first, you know, but then he start to walk fast. I stop because I don't want to hit me. He hit me, and then three times he apologize. "He wanted to take my concentration. I knew that he will try something. He talked to me a little bit. I think it's normal somebody do it like this."
World No. 2 Nadal, the 11-time grand slam title winner, suffered one of the greatest shocks in history against a man whose only five other Wimbledon visits had ended in first round defeats in qualifying. "I played against an inspired opponent and I am out. That's all. It's not a tragedy. It's only a tennis match," said Nadal, who had played in the last five grand slam finals.
"At the end, that's life. There are much more important things. Sure, I wanted to win, but I lost. It's not a tragedy."
Nadal praised Rosol's performance which was wrapped up by three aces - out of a total of 22 - in the decisive last service game and punctuated by service returns measuring up to 90mph.
It gave the 26-year-old Rosol an historic 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 second round win, a rich reward for a blistering display of sustained free-swinging.
But Nadal said he doubted if the Czech could repeat his heroics in the rest of the tournament which begins with a last 32 clash against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Ironically, it was Kohlschreiber who knocked Nadal out of the Halle grasscourt event at the quarterfinal stage in the run-up to Wimbledon.
"He didn't do it the past, but you never know what's going on in the future. The thing is today he played great," said the Spaniard. "If he played the way he played the fifth set, you can win against everybody. But I think everybody who follows tennis knows that that's very difficult to do every day. But if he's able to do it this time, he will have his chance. I wish him all the best."
Nadal had been upset about Rosol's behavior as he was preparing to return the Spaniard's serve, and complained about it to the chair umpire during one changeover in the third set. Two games later, Nadal bumped into Rosol as they walked to their chairs for a break.
Rosol said he thought Nadal was simply trying to mess up his concentration.
"I was surprised that he can do it on the Centre Court at Wimbledon," Rosol said. "It's like something wrong. ... I thought that he wants to let me go first, you know, but then he start to walk fast. I stop because I don't want to hit me. He hit me, and then three times he apologize. "He wanted to take my concentration. I knew that he will try something. He talked to me a little bit. I think it's normal somebody do it like this."
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