Rafael Nadal still optimistic about Wimbledon Championships after losing early in Halle – Tennis News
World number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain, is still hopeful of winning this year’s Wimbledon Championships despite his surprise loss at the Gerry Weber Open. The Spaniard was beaten by defending champion and home favourite, Philipp
Kohlschreiber, in straight sets 3-6, 4-6 in the quarter-finals in Halle, Germany.
In the post match press conference, Nadal said, “Why I lost today is easy, he played much better than me. My movements were not good to play against a player, who hits every ball hard, aggressive. He was playing the ball very fast.
So, I need a little bit more time. But playing against him here in my second match on grass only having a few hours of practice was very difficult today.”
Nadal defended his decision to participate at the grass court event straight after capturing the French Open title on the red clay courts of Roland Garros. The King of Clay had downed the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic
of Serbia, in four sets in the French Open final to capture his record seventh title in Paris.
The Spaniard added, “I have played the week after the French Open for eight years with the exception of 2009 when I was injured.”
Nadal was featuring at the Gerry Weber Open after a gap of eight years. He was stunned in the opening match in his last outing at this ATP World Tour 250 event in 2005.
The Spaniard has a habit of bad results at the warm-up events for Wimbledon Championships. In his five appearances at the Queen’s Club during this period, the Spaniard managed to win his last-eight match only once. After losing
in the quarter-finals in 2006 and 07, Nadal captured the AEGON Championships crown in 2008 by beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
Nadal skipped the event in 2009 due to injury, when he had also withdrawn from the Wimbledon Championships. Even in 2010, when Nadal won the title at the All England Club, he lost to his lower ranked countryman, Feliciano Lopez,
in straight sets 6-7(5), 4-6 in the quarter-finals.
Nadal will now head to his home island of Mallorca to relax for a few days. The Spaniard had been playing continuously for the last couple of months. He completed his rain delayed French Open final on Monday and flew to Halle on
Tuesday. The 11-time Grand Slam winner played a doubles match on Wednesday and then singles on Thursday and Friday.
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