It was all going so well for Rafael Nadal in a grasscourt comeback that looked to have eased the summertime blues that dogged him on his favoured clay – until he ran into an inspired Alexandr Dolgopolov at Queen's.
In the space of two hours and 13 minutes, the Spaniard’s Wimbledon preparation has had the air taken out of it. The Ukrainian, playing well above his world ranking of 79, simply outplayed the recently demoted world No10 on enough key points to go into the second round on the back of a wholly deserved 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 win in front of a stunned Centre Court audience on a warm, still afternoon.
Nadal, who turned 29 during the French Open where he went out in the quarter-finals to Novak Djokovic in only his second loss there in a decade, did tremendously well to win his first grasscourt title since his Wimbledon triumph five years ago when he beat Viktor Troicki in Stuttgart on Sunday, even though he had to fight through two long matches to reach the final.
In the first round here, he played well enough but lacked the edge of old to subdue an opponent with nothing to lose and who hit the ball with unfettered freedom from first ball to last.
While Dolgopolov went up to the courtside microphone to celebrate only his second win over Nadal in seven matches, Nadal left quickly to prepare for his evening doubles match alongside his compatriot Marc López.
“I think my serve was the key,” Dolgopolov said. “He only broke me once, in the third set – and that made me more confident on his serve. I risked more and it worked. I think it is tougher for him to play on grass. It is my best chance to beat him, but he is great everywhere.”
It is difficult to imagine what might have made Nadal more nervous: playing in front of the former manager of his favourite club, Real Madrid, and current Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, or the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos. But he was not quite himself in the first set, as the Ukrainian hit the spots with ball in hand and moved effortlessly across the grass.
They went blow for educated blow in the second set, and Dolgopolov’s serve probably made him favourite to finish the job in the inevitable shootout.
Nadal blew a break lead when he dumped a shocking forehand into the net for 3-3, followed by another and, after an hour and 25 minutes, Dolgopolov had match point. But Nadal forced a final error from his opponent on the backhand side and levelled at a set apiece. It was desperate stuff.
After an hour and 42 minutes, Nadal got his first break point of the match, and took it with a vicious forehand that kissed the baseline to lead 2-1 in the third. He struck his fifth ace for 4-2, got a time violation on break point in the eighth game and saved, but Dolgopolov got to 4-4 with the most delicate backhand volley.
As they went into a third hour, the energy was with the younger player, who saved a third break point with his 16th ace, forcing Nadal to serve to stay in the tournament.
After nearly two-and-a-quarter hours, though, Dolgopolov had his second match point and wrapped it up with a forehand down the line that passed the Spaniard at the net.
