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Wimbledon: Nadal stunned by unknown Czech Rosol

Wimbledon: Nadal stunned by unknown Czech Rosol

Rafa Nadal suffered an astonishing 6-7 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 loss to world number 100 Lukas Rosol in the Wimbledon second round on Thursday, one of the biggest ever upsets in grand slam tennis. By Ed Osmond.

The world number two and second seed, who had reached the Wimbledon final the last five times he played at the All England club and won the title twice, came up against an inspired opponent who struck a succession of outrageous winners to complete victory under the closed roof on Centre Court.
“In the fifth set he played more than unbelievable,” Nadal told a news conference. “First three sets I didn’t play well.
“It wasn’t the best decision for me to close the roof but I have to accept it and he came back to play unbelievable in the fifth.
“He is able to hit the ball very hard without feeling the pressure so everything was going right for him in the fifth. I am very very disappointed.”
Czech Rosol was gracious in victory.
“I never expected something like this,” he said. “I am very sorry for him but I hope I can play one more match like this. I played my best match ever. It means so much for me.”
Nadal, who won his seventh French Open title this month, looked on course to reach the third round in routine fashion when he came through a marathon first-set tiebreak 11-9.
But Rosol, who has never gone beyond the third round of a grand slam, broke serve in the opening game of the second set and stunned Nadal with a succession of venomous serves and pinpoint groundstrokes.
Nadal was powerless to stem the tide and was clearly upset by the 26-year-old Czech’s aggressive style but the 11-times grand slam winner dug in to break serve at the start of the fourth set and repeated the feat to level at two sets all.
Officials decided to close the roof to enable the match to be finished and after a half-hour delay the players returned.
Most people expected Nadal to ease through the deciding set but Rosol had other ideas.
The Czech immediately broke serve and continued to subject the world number two to a barrage of big serves and outrageous winners, sealing victory with an ace to set up a third-round match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
It was the first time Nadal had lost before the third round of a grand slam since he was beaten by Gilles Mueller in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005. DM

Photo: Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic celebrates after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in their men’s singles tennis match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London June 28, 2012. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

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