Rafael Nadal is out of the Rogers Cup, beaten 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals by fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori on Friday. The Japanese was all over Rafa’s serve, breaking twice in the first set and twice more in the second while also winning most of the groundstroke duels. It was his first win over Rafa in eight attempts.
Match statistics: aces (4-5), double faults (6-3), winners (15-25), unforced errors (17-23), total points won (47-59).
Rafael Nadal, of Spain, tosses the ball to serve to Kei Nishikori, of Japan, during the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return against Kei Nishikori of Japan during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kei Nishikori defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4. (Aug. 13, 2015 – Source: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images North America)
MONTREAL, ON – AUGUST 14: Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return against Kei Nishikori of Japan during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarterfinal match of the Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 14 August 2015. (Tenis, Japón, España) EFE/EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE
Rafael Nadal of Spain prepares to serve against Kei Nishikori of Japan during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Aug. 13, 2015 – Source: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images North America)
MONTREAL, ON – AUGUST 14: Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return against Kei Nishikori of Japan during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarterfinal match of the Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 14 August 2015. (Tenis, Japón, España) EFE/EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE
Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarterfinal match of the Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 14 August 2015. (Tenis, Japón, España) EFE/EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE
Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarterfinal match of the Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 14 August 2015. (Tenis, Japón, España) EFE/EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE
Rafael Nadal of Spain tosses a ball against Kei Nishikori of Japan during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Aug. 13, 2015 – Source: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images North America)
Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Kei Nishikori of Japan during quarter finals at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
MONTREAL, ON – AUGUST 14: Kei Nishikori of Japan shakes hands with Rafael Nadal of Spain after defeating him during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kei Nishikori defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, ON – AUGUST 14: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts to the crowd after loosing to Kei Nishikori of Japan during day five of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kei Nishikori defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Win or lose, ALWAYS with Rafa!
Well I’m always sad when my BELOVED Rafa loses; one thing he’ll never lose is my undying love and respect.
Onward and upward Rafa.
It’s time again to hit the Mallorcan beach; it’s time to go Scuba diving!
Vamos Rafa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is even more worrysome is that it is not just hard hitters with a serve based game, but also players like Wawrinka and nishikori who toy with Rafa nowadays – beating him with a game that used to be his winning recipee.
@diane kuriloff I agree with your post Diane.
I too, feel that Rafa’s serve was his downfall last night. I feel that the way Kei was playing him that Rafa HAD to GET an ACE or at least fire a good first serve. However, Rafa started to serve better during the latter part of second set. He was was fired-up and he figured out what he needed to do get the better of Kei and to possibly win the match but it too late. I wish Rafa would watch his 2008 Wimbledon match, and his 2010 and 2013 US Open matches. He was taking the ball on the rise and playing well. But, I think he wll do alot better in Cincinatti. God Blerss you Rafa. Marylynn. rise feel
Thank you Marylynn for your comments as well. Just remember Rafa’s head to head
against Nishikori is Rafa 7, Kei 1. I dread the next time Kei has to face Rafa.
All in all Rafa is doing very very well. He should be extremely happy with himself!
Win or lose I always find Rafa’s matches the most compelling and exciting!
He’s certainly on his way up!
Always Love You Rafa Win Or Lose <You are the Greatest Tennis Player In The World ,&King Of Clay ,Keep Going Champ You are getting Better & Better ,& Good Luck Next …Match <3 <3 🙂
Rafa. Yo soy tu admiradora No. 1. No se que te paso en el primer set que el japones te acabo enseguida. No te vi jugar con el entusiasmo y la agresividad de los otros partidos. Te confiaste demasiado, que problema hubo. Para mi, seras siempre mi campeon. Espere a que jugaras hasta casi la 1.00am en lugar de las 5.30pm. Vamos Rafa.
Get a new coach
You always say it is a game win or not. You look better so keep on believing. It will happen again.
What a sad match:(:(
Win or lose Rafa is still the hardest working on the tour ,I hope he does better and better in all his future tournaments ,vamos Rafa ,,,you’ve got the weapons ,,,use them ,your fans will continue to support you ,
Rafa is now 2-7 versus top-10 players this year. He’s lost twice to Djokovic, once to Murray, once to Wawrinka, once to Berdych, once to Raonic, and once to Nishikori. 6 of the 7 losses were in straight sets. His only wins came against Berdych and Ferrer during the clay court season.
He and his fans can spin these losses all they want, but there’s no getting around the fact that Rafa is simply NOT competitive with top-5 players anymore, and is barely holding his own against players ranked 6 thru 10.
At age 28-29-30, Rafa should be enjoying the best years of his career. But instead, he’s experiencing the worst years of his career. With little or no sign of improvement.
It’s become all too obvious that our “champ” would rather keep losing and dropping in the rankings than make changes to his team and his game that might turn things around.
Rafa’s had a great career. It could have been even greater. How much greater we’ll never know, which reminds me of John Greenleaf Whittier’s famous quote: “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been’.”
VAMOS!!!
Nobody would know for sure what might have been, for they’re merely speculations.
I always think that had Rafa remained the aggressive self the way he was back in 2003/2004 playing close to the baseline and hitting hard, flatter and more penetrating shots, he would have much better successes on the HCs and on grass. He might even save his body from all those multiple injuries too. However, Rafa and Toni had chosen this route of defense/offense more grinding tennis to have the incredible success on clay. There’s no way we can turn back the clock and see how Rafa would fare and progress playing aggressive tennis throughout his career. What Rafa has achieved playing the way he plays is already incredible, we can only hope that he can at least find that aggressive game of 2013, something he has shown he’s capable of playing, and starts winning again.
The way up has come to a stop again. Rafa is still a top 10 player at best. Very big gap with the top 7 though. Humiliating defeat.
Win or loose – Rafa’s always the no.1 champ to me 🎾💪😍 VAMOS, dear Rafa! 😃⭐️ And good luck i Cincinati 😘
One of those days so let us stay positive and support our champion.
One of the many days unfortunately.
VAMOS DEAR RAFA!!!!! : ) You had an ace right away , some great shots, & nice competitive net points….not a bad match at all…..& I thought you were there close to winning and ran out of time…… It started rather late & Gullibs not closing a win after such great 2 sets w a match point was a bummer…. he played BETTER than Novak…was detrmind & had nearly flauless performance all way round…. he had much more juice in his game than Novak…..and just got a bit tense closing the match point ….. Subsequently however, your match had to be put off that much longer….not a fun prospect at he end of a long day….. BUT dear Rafa, you had your endurance in tact, your energy & your positive attitude all the way to the last point……… ONLY few missed shots made the scoring difference …. but clearly you successfully turned the match around & your game got elevated just when he got tired and lost focus…. so w a little more time , you could have easily put in a 3rd set & in all likelihood win the match…….next time will be better!!!! SE LA VI…..
Watching now the live doubles score board & impressed w the fact that you guys are hanging in much more than the score is showing…..nearly each game you went 40 40 0r 40 30….considering that your opponents are so experienced w many years leading doubles, you & Verdasco can feel proud of your performance…..
God bless you sweetheart & huge congratulations for all the great tennis you played this past month!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS ….VAMOS…..VAMOS……& have a good night & a nice run in Cincinnati!!!!! : )
Rafa always starts slow and thats the problem. Had he played aggressively (like during end of second set) from the get go, things might be more interesting for him and his fans.
His serve really deserted him, at one stage his first serve % fell below 50%! And he had 6 DFs! ( only one better than his Hamburg match vs Vesely). Whether its due to Kei’s aggressive returns or not, having so few first serve in would spell trouble vs any player, more so when its an aggressive returner.
Rafa clearly is not ready to beat any top player on the HCs; hopes he starts beating them from Cincy onwards.
Rafa is ready to take on ANY top players…he is right up there w them w his strong game & great improved serve….understandably, not so this late time of the night….where the serve is the hardest to deliver late at night…. I think if this match happened at 4 pm in the afternoon things would be different…..I saw his opponent lose momentum & focus towards the end of the first set already when Rafa was looking fresh & ready to compete for 2 more sets…..
Rafa’s performance during the past month is fantastic & he can take any one of the top players on hard Courts, Grass or Clay!!!!! At the same time, I have noticed a decline in other top players performance where their game & fitness level is not as as sharp (as a few months ago….) and so it is encouraging to see Rafa doing well , moving forward beautifully, winning the 500 Clay Title & making the Hard Court quarter finals……. & as he had wisely pointed out in an interview yesterday….”the years is not over yet….. : ) ”
ps: Rafa & Verdasco just took the 2nd set….VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : )
I had a feeling Kei was finally going to defeat Rafa on his 8th attempt plus he won a
hard court title last week in DC and had more hard court match play already. I know Rafa will
make the necessary adjustments when facing Kei the next time. No need to worry! The match didn’t get exciting until Rafa fought back in the middle of the 2nd set. Win or lose, Rafa is
always the more fiery. passionate and exciting player to watch. Congrats to Kei but
great to see Rafa’s fighting spirit emerge again. Kei already beat Roger and Novak (twice)
in their head to head so I don’t see any significance in this loss. Look forward to Rafa
re-establishing himself on the hard courts!
Vamos Rafa!
il reste le meilleur sur les terrains de tennis et j’espère qu’il retrouvera les finales sur les tournois .
Mais il n’a plus rien à prouver , que du plaisir maintenant …. VAMOS RAFA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!