New Delhi: Fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal saw his hope of clinching his third Wimbledon title tumble down before him when he suffered a shock defeat to Giles Muller in the fourth round at All England Club on Monday.
Carrying forward his clay-court form, Nadal was up and rolling with his clinical victories in the first three rounds of the tournament. His third-round win over Russia's Karen Khachanov implied that he had clinched victory in 28 consecutive sets at Grand Slams, a record he had created back in 2010. But things failed to turn out the same against Muller in their round of 16 clash.
The 31-year-old stumbled in the first two sets but fought back strong in the next two to force a fifth set. However, it was Muller who stole the show in the pulsating final set as the match ended 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-15 in favour of him.
This wasn't for the first time that Nadal had faced an early exit at the All England Club. Monday's defeat sums up to seven, for the Spaniard.
Here is a list of all those occasions where the mighty Spaniard was knocked out early in the prestigious tournament:
2003 – It was Nadal's first appearance on the grass court at the All England Club. Edging past Mario Ancic in a hard-fought first-round battle, the Spaniard went forward to defeat wild-card entrant Lee Childs in straight sets, but succumbed to a 6-4 6-4 6-2 defeat in round three to Paradorn Srichaphan.
2005 – Arriving fresh from the clay-court having clinched the French Open title, Nadal cruised through round one only to suffer defeat to Giles Muller in the very next round. He lost 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 to the Luxembourg international.
2012 – Nadal had somehow gained a grip over the grass-court having inked his name on the trophy first in 2008 and then in 2010. He was also the runner-up in 2011. But he once again faced an early exit when he lost to Lukas Rosol in a nail-biting round two match of the 2012 Wimbledon Championship.
2013 – The year proved to be horrifying for the Spaniard as he had faced his career's first round-one exit in Grand Slam. It came against Belgium's Steve Darcis, where he lost 7-6(4) 7-6(8) 6-4.
2014 – Bouncing back from the horror of 2013, Nadal showed ample promise as he stormed into the fourth round of the coveted tournament. He had even defeated Lukas Rosol, who had halted his march in the 2012 campaign. But fell 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 to Australian youngster Nick Kyrgios in round four.
2015 – Nadal's struggle at the All England Club continued as he suffered yet another shock exit, this time to qualifier Dustin Brown of Germany. He lost 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4.
Despite leaving the fans shell-shocked, Nadal promised that he will be back in 2018. "I never said I am not going to come back. I want to come back because I want to play more times in the Centre Court," said Nadal.
Great feeling. Great atmosphere. I put everything on the court. I played with all my passion. The crowd normally appreciate that," said the 15-time Grand Slam winner.
"Sorry for the crowd that was supporting me."
