Darcis Stuns Nadal In First Round At Wimbledon

Nadal suffers early exit again (Ben Stansall / AFP Getty Images)

Two-time Wimbledon Champion Rafael Nadal has been knocked out of Wimbledon in straight sets by Belgian Steve Darcis. World number 135 Darcis, who had never beaten a player in the top five,  beat Nadal 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8), 6-4. It was the first time in 34 Grand Slam appearances that Nadal has lost in the first round.

Last year Nadal suffered a shock second-round exit to Lukas Rosol, however afterwards claimed he 'was not ready to play'.  A knee injury then kept him out for 7 months missing both the US and the Australian Open. This year and only weeks after winning an historic eighth Roland Garros title he finds himself out in the first round. 

Nadal was 43-2 this year coming into this match, however the majority if those victories had been on clay. He had not played on grass since last year, having withdrawn from Halle, Germany citing fatigued after the French Open. 

Nadal never looked comfortable on the grass, seemingly not trusting the surface. Unlike the clay, grass is not forgiving on the body. On clay players are able to slide however on grass, movement is the key and this puts pressure of the knees. Also the surface is quicker with the ball bouncing lower allowing players less time to make the shot. 

There is no doubt that Nadal was not at 100% and his movement was not as smooth as he would have liked. He was unable to chase down many shots and looked uncomfortable especially in the third set. However take nothing away from Darcis. He played aggressive tennis and throughly deserved his victory. It was without doubt the best tennis and match Darcis has ever played. He was able to maintain a terrific level of performance and he will hope he can continue that in his second round match against world number 41 Lukasz Kubot. 

This is not the first shock Darcis has inflicted at Wimbledon. Last summer during the Olympics he beat Tomas Berdych.

Elsewhere, Roger Federer and Andy Murray progressed to the second round with ease. 

Federer only took 1 hour 8 minutes to see off world number 47 Victor Hanescu, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. A majestic performance from Federer which will have pleased the returning champion. He will meet Ukrainian and world number 98 Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round. 

Murray took a little longer by with relative ease to dispatch Benjamin Becker in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Murray was confident throughout and never really looked in any danger.