Rafael Nadal failed to reach the semifinals of the Italian Open on Friday after losing to Novak Djokovic 5-7, 6-7(4).
Rafa wasted five set points in the second set of an encounter that went nearly two and half hours.
While Djokovic has won 15 straight sets against Rafa, this marked their closest match since Rafa won the 2014 French Open final.
After the match, Rafa said:
I was not disappointed. Overall, I am playing well. … I have been competing at the highest level against the best player.
Our champ will now prepare for the second Grand Slam of the year which gets underway in Paris on May 22.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, during his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing a point against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, during his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, during his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, during his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ITALY, ROME – MAY 13: Rafael Nadal of Spain receives medical timeout against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during quarterfinals match ATP Tennis Open tournament at the Foro Italico on May 13, 2016 in Roma, Italy. (Photo by Andrea Spinelli/Corbis via Getty Images)
during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing a point against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing a point against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Rafael Nadal of Spain after the match during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafa Nadal of Spain looks on, after losing his match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 13: Rafael Nadal of Spain after the match during day six of the The Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2016 on May 13, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)
Rafa u r d best in d world.please believe in yourself as you are unbeatable instead of djoker.its hurting every fan of yours as u r loosing matches because of ur nerves during d game.pls work on it before RG.and I feel u need to push all d players towards baselines. Please don’t put d return shots in d middle of court.I hv been analysing d matches most of d matches u r loosing by putting returns in d middle instead pushing towards baseline.pls I feel everyone in d world are waiting for u to lift 10th RG.pls don’t disappoint us.
“You are the best in the world and you are unbeatable at RG”
Gutted for you Rafa ,
I hope your foot is ok and you will be fit to play at your best level in Paris ,
Sooooooooooo close ,you almost ,could have ,,should have,,,won this one ,
Better look next time Rafa ,but it was good to see okay at such a high level ,VAMOS Rafa next time Rafa ,next ime ,
I agree with Shirley Taya. Rafa has improved in many ways lately but still not his best. It was clear that nerves were in play and he couldn’t control them too well. A lot of work still has to be done regarding his mental state and self belief especially concerning djoko. This is what I was afraid of – Toni etc. always putting djoko on a pedestal and instilling fear instead of sensible confidence in Rafa. Pictures of Rafa during the match also show how he felt – hitting his head and covering his face …. . Even to say that he’s unlucky and lucky to have djoko play in the same era. Ridiculous!!!!! Djoko is good but not that good. He is also very lucky that even top players other than roger and Rafa are not at their best. Maybe Andy is getting there. But that Rafa gives djoko sooo much importance is absolutely unnecessary and ridiculous and not even really justified. I hope yesterday’s match showed him that. Also djokos histrionics and patronizing remarks must be ignored. Rafa please, polish some of your tennis and get back your killer instinct and self belief – that you are simply fantastic and could beat anyone!!!
Vamos!!!!!!!
well done you played really well and gave it your best shot,on ward and up ward to roland garros vamos rafa,bet you are back home in mallorca,by for now.
Rafa my boy, I am disgusted n depressed. You have got to get that awful seed out of your mind that Novak is unbeatable! You had him beat, worried, n losing his cool in the 1st Set, but then nervousness set in on your part when you knew you were about to finalise a win n you faltered badly. This nervous weakness of yours is well known as you have made mention of it in your book n to the Press on several occasions. Novak spotted this weakness n he took advantage. After he won the 1st Set he became his arrogant self once again n got that look in his frightening eyes, but you once again knocked him down n again had the Set in the bag, but once again you collapsed with unnecessary errors due to nerves!!
Rafa, take a Bow, you were the BETTER PLAYER last night, but you blew it! You have Novak beat on Clay anytime. Roger Federer is a Legend n you are a Legend n have been crowned the King of Clay, so for goodness sake stop saying Novak is unbeatable. You have admitted that you have suffered with this nervous condition when approaching a Win, n I am wondering why Uncle Tony has not arranged for you to have some treatment for this. It has lost you a few games in the past.
Rafa, I am 80 years old n followed you since you became a ‘Pro’. You are a gifted young man – a Natural. You are well spoken, polite with excellent manners, have a wonderful sense of loyalty n love for your family, generous, intelligent, well groomed, gracious in defeat, n last but not least good looking!
RAfA, NOVAK IS NOT UNBEATABLE, ASK ROGER. You can n will win the French Open.
Love n God Bless You. Your Aussie Abuela. 🏆👑😇😊🎈🎈🎈
You are right sir. I think rafa is much better player then what the result shows. It’s only a mental approach, that he was pressing the panic button every time. Just come off this stuff. You have the best chance among all the players to lift the # RONALD GARROS trophy for the 10th time.
for such matches u need all ur weapons blazing out unfortunately today rafa cross court forehand and some Fore Hand Down The Line not worked well
vamos rafa u know what to do
I did not see the match but from all the comments it seems that Rafa there was not a lot between you and Novak.
i know you like to go back to Mallorca and work on those areas that make the difference.
Good on you for doing soooooooooooo well,and have some rest as wesll as training before Rolan Garros.
Praying big for you for Roland Garros,
love and prayers,
AlaineXXSydney
Sometimes i feel for novak i mean he got all things in place but still he is not a watchable exciting player and the moment i see like he did in match against the crazy attitude ….bashing rqcquets etc …i get my answers
The flat hitter what he his
For me it’s the best thing happened for rafa
i mean the fact that he got to play novak before rg16
this match result will always help him in preparations
The fact that rafa gone fighting out , the attitude was good, he slapped novak tactics with winning every drop shot novak played ,
this drop shot strategy will be there in rg16 also
Yes sometimes i find amazing how novak can hit the lines from anywhere in court ..i guess that helping him to be in this position
Rafa could have got that 2 nd set but u know as i said the momentum is the key while playing novak ..the fact that if rafa could have 1st set he would have able to close it out
and that is the thing he needs to remember for rg 16
Today it was same like murray in madrid about who plays big points well and it was not ur day so next time u will make it possible
And rafa please play on his forehand side more
Yes rafa needs to do little adjustment which he and his team knows best
As i said rafa like to hurt opponents on big occassions so we will see
As rafa says “u need to fight little bit more, practice a little bit more to try to win against a opponent that is always bring u in big trouble and that the real sport trying u r best on every moment and fighting till the last ball thats the final goal”
So just look after ur health rafa and stay calm
Vamos rafa
Insanity of keep doing the same thing and expecting the different results.
Didn’t Rafa and his team say the serve motion Rafa used during the 2010 open caused him some back problems? And Rafa said the Australian Open final against Stan was his worst moment on a tennis court. It was very hard to watch that match because it was obvious he was in a great deal of pain. Maybe Rafa and his team are not being stubborn about doing more with the serve, but protecting his long term health. Didn’t get the chance to watch the match, but, based on the score, it must have been competitive. I think we were all spoiled by his record extraordinary comeback in 2013. This is taking longer, but Rafa’s comments indicate he is feeling better and better about his progress.
Win or lose, I will be a fan of this champion as long as he wants to play and I am loving seeing some of those famous unbelievable Rafa shots in his recent matches.