Rafael Nadal is still struggling to play at his stellar levels on hard courts.
The Spanish Legend capitulated in the Cincinnati 3rd round to his friend Feliciano Lopez after a 3 sets battle.
All looked good for the Mallorcan that won the first set 7-5. Eventually Rafa surrendered only 1 set in the next 2 sets to finally lose 5-7 6-4 7-6 (3). Rafa scored 1 point more than Feliciano (98 vs. 97), but that wasn’t; enough. Match Stats.
Nadal: He played the best match ever against me
Rafa had to bow to Feliciano to comment “I was there during the whole match with the right intensity, with the right attitude, doing the things that I have to do, trying to be more aggressive, trying to go to the net more often. what I did. But today I played against an opponent that he played a fantastic match, I think. He played the best match ever against me, without a doubt … For me it’s a tough loss because I was playing better and my feelings on court were better than they were before.”
Lopez: It means a lot for me
Rafa is a sort of divinity in Spain and it is really important for a fellow countryman to beat him. Feliciano commented “It means a lot when you beat such a good player like him. It’s not a normal match. It’s something different and the atmosphere there when you play against Rafa, it’s always something special … I think he’s playing better, getting better and better. He played good today. I mean I was playing really my best today. Doesn’t matter the way he played because I was playing so good today.”
Next vs. Federer
Feliciano will play Roger Federer in the quarters. Head to head is 11-0 for the Maestro that is the super favorite to reach the final.
| NOT HAPPY.. FELICIANO TOO GOOD |
