In a stunning upset, French Open champion Rafael Nadal is out of the 2013 Wimbledon Open after losing emphatically to Steve Darcis 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the opening day of the grass court Grand Slam tournament on Monday at All-England Club.
Nadal, who's considered the favorite in the tournament despite being seeded No.5, started a little bit sluggish and continued to struggle with his shots in the succeeding sets.
The Spaniard battled in hardly-fought tiebreakers in the first and second sets, but Darcis came through with big shots to take a surprising 2-0 set advantage.
The Belgian sustained his good form into the third set, punishing Nadal with big serves and sharp forehands. Finally in the 10th game of the set, Darcis put the last nail in the coffin to eliminate Nadal in the first week of competition, marking the second straight year that Nadal has had an early exit from the tournament.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion just scored 32 winners with 24 unforced errors and converted only 54 percent of his second serves into points. On the other hand, Darcis converted 74 percent of his first serves into points and racked up 53 winners along with 24 miscues against the two-time Wimbledon Champion.
It's another devastating loss for Nadal on the fastest surface in tennis. Last year, Lukas Rosol played the game of his life to topple Nadal in a five-set thriller in the second round.
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