(AP) – Rafael Nadal’s quest for a third Wimbledon singles title ended in remarkable fashion in London on Saturday as the world No. 1 was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-3, 10-8 by Novak Djokovic.
As intense as any athletes in any sport, these two didn’t exactly slowly ramp things up when they returned to Centre Court about 14 hours after they’d departed. Having the roof shut meant every sound was amplified as it ricocheted off the dome — the thwack of ball off racket, the players’ grunts, the spectators’ applause.
This was high-decibel, high-stakes, high-quality tennis between two of the greats right from the get-go, beginning with an 18-point, six-deuce game that last 15 minutes and felt truly pivotal. It included a 23-stroke exchange and three others of at least 11. Rafa saved two break points and when he finally held, the owner 17 major championships, two at Wimbledon, punched the air and yelled as if he’d won the match, not a solitary game.
When Rafa broke in Saturday’s second game, a dismayed Djokovic grabbed a spare ball and whacked it with his racket against the wall behind the baseline. Fortunately, he was at the end of the court farthest from the Royal Box, where the pair of visiting Duchesses, Kate and the newly married Meghan, sat in the front row.
There were other such displays of emotion from Djokovic, who is prone to yelling at himself or at his coach. He reacted by getting broken again to trail 5-3 in that set by raising his left shoe and violently pounding his racket against it — one, two, three, four times. Moments later, he got to love-40 before Rafa took five points in a row to serve out the set.
But it was Djokovic who tended to be better down the stretch in his 52nd career meeting against Rafa in a contest that seemed as if it should be worth a trophy.
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Dear Rafa, no matter how the outcome came, you did an amazing job. My heart and blood pressure was up. My nerves couldn’t take it. But you’re still my #1 player and you WILL always be #1 in my book. Thank you very much for your wonderful hard work and may God keep blessing you and your wonderful beautiful family. And of course your health. Your a real gentle man. Vamos Rafa ALWAYS
I know this wasn’t the result Rafa wanted but he did make the semi-finals. He hasn’t gone deep at Wimbledon since 2011. This is a great result although Rafa likes to win important titles. Watching his amazingly high level of tennis on grass throughout the 2 weeks, I know he’ll have plenty more oppurtunities at Wimby. He and Roger have shared the last 6 grand slam titles, we mustn’t forget that. Unfortunately, the match against Novak wasn’t a straight-forward match due to so many issues waiting, stopping due to curfew, resuming next day, keeping the roof closed on a such a beautiful day due to archaic rulebook. We still got to see blistering high level tennis. Rafa is in great form and he’ll certainly be back. I agree with Lillian do not dwell on this outcome, move on, rest, relax, and regroup, Look forward to seeing you as always in the north american swing. You are an amazing champion and human being. Vamos Rafa!
Sad that Nadal lost; Djokovic’s win will only increase his arrogance.
I watch rafa press conference when the question was asked about the roof he tried to be diplomatic but his body language said otherwise he is really pissed off about the fact that the roof stayed closed. That gave nole the advantage to win. Nole serve had much better effect under a closed roof then with a open roof. and the serve kept him alive.
I agree that overall rafa played well. The only critisim i have is he played too predictable and on breakpoints in the fifht set he was too passive defense and was waiting for nole to make the mistake. Also he was playing way too predicatble hitting to the strongest backhand of nole and not using forehand down the line more often. also courtposition when receiving serve was very bad
Carlos Moya has work to do. The first thing is he needs to convince nadal to change strategy against nole and roger in order to beat them on other surffaces then clay
1. Moya absent, frankly what good is he for Rafa if he does not bother to show up at a Grand slam?
2. Wimbledon chooses to humour the arrogant Serb and close the roof to turn the court into a hard court to favour the Serb,
3. Rafa’s serve sucks because stupidly loyal to the uncle who has always downgraded him and again loyal to a socalled “friend coach” absent during most important events and therefore he never engaged a coach to work on improving his serve
4.His mental weakness against the arrogant Serb, etc.,
What else could have worked against Rafa’s heroic semi-final today where his struggle was “mort annoncée”?
Hope Rafa will recover fast from this defeat to regain his USO title.
Wamos Rafa, you are the best.
Agree with you….why we have to award the arrogance?
Why your coach is not at GS event?
Why Brits are…bs?Disgrace?
Why Rafa listening so long to uncle Tony telling him Fed and Djokovic are better than him?
Why not use sport psychologist to help him get over it with his disbelief when playing this two?
Why didn’t insist on roof open? You are #1,you should choose….
Why….
Better luck next time. Still #1 with me!!
So proud of you Rafa! First semi in 7 years. Who would have thought that the semi final will be between Rafa and djoker. Two gladiators .So glad you are fit and healthy. Now take the well deserved rest and come back fresh for next adventure. All of us here sending you best wishes and positive vibes. Love and prayers on your way. Vamos Rafa💪💪💪
Do you guys think that the fact that Carlos Moya was not present was a factor? It just feels safe mentally having him present, in the box.
I don’t know if that was a factor. But I was interested in why Rafa seemed to struggle to convert well-earned set points and break points in the Quarter and Semi Final. Unforced errors came in; it felt something was off with his focus, in a way we wouldn’t see on clay.
I’ve listened to Rafa’s press conference and although he is disappointed about the result, he spoke very positively about his match and his overall performance.The great thing about Rafa is that he always sees the glass half full, so he will put this loss behind him knowing he gave everthing he could. He will take a well earnef holiday and press the reset button, ready for the North American swing.
RAFA LOST THE MATCH AND IT WAS REALLY DISSAPOINTING GIVEN HOW WELL HE PLAYED OVERALL . I THINK RAFA SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE THIRD SET GIVEN THST HE HAD 3 SET POINTS IN THE TIE BREAKER AND LET NOVAK OFF THE HOOK . THE FIFTH SET WAS EPIC AND COULD HAVE SWUNG RAFA’S WAY IF NOT FOR A COUPLE OF ERRORS BY RAFA . THE LAST GAME LOSING HIS SERVE AT LOVE WAS HEARTBREAKING . JUST WISH THE OUTCOME WAS DIFFERENT AS THIS WIN BY NOVAK WILL PROPEL HIM BACK INTO THE TOP 3 . RAFA MUST BE READY TO DEFEND THE US OPEN TITLE BY DISMISSING THIS LOSS TO NOVAK AS IT WERE REALLY A VICTORY THAT GOT AWAY FROM HIM , WHICH IT WAS !
💔
Rafa didn’t lose , Novak just won that’s all , but Novak knows no matter how many grandslam he wins in the future he will never wins the hearts and love of the people because that belongs to Rafa .
As Rafael stated, “He deserved to win. I deserved to win.” Rest and recharge.
Wish Anderson all the best in the final. Thank God we were spared the shirt ripping.😝
No importa mi Rafa perdiste como un verdadero campeon, pudiste haberle Ganado pero asi es el tennis. Vamos Rafa al USO. aeres un verdadero CHAMPION
Rafa’s press conference is up on the Wimbledon youtube.
One thing stood out to me; he said “I am proud of myself”. So good to hear this from him.
We are proud of you too, Rafa.
[reposted from previous thread]
we all feel the pain with you. Chances came and went. I believe you should have won, you are the better player and the better man. Stay healthy and injury free and look towards the next one. You should be very proud of how you played and your conduct. a REAL CHAMPION.
So sad, still crying! Rafa lost the match in the third set. It could be over after four sets. From the baseline he played better than Djokovic, but the Serbian had the serve to survive close situation.
The closed roof was a big advantage for Djokovic! This is a joke! It’s an outdoor-event and they made in to an indoor-event.
Take rest champ and take confidence out of the tournament. Enjoy some time with family and friends and than all the best for he hard-court-season in America. Always with you. Vamos Rafa <3
Rafa you played good you had appourtunity just did not work out in your favor.take time off enjoy rest of the summer see you soon at us open
😭😭
Envoyé depuis mon smartphone Samsung Galaxy.
So sorry. Rafa is still the better man in every respect. Djokovic is a spoiled brat not a man. An older version of Nick kyrios. He’ll never learn how to act like a champion, I.e. Federer and nadal. A real jerk!
Oh dear Rafa
You still are my King of Tennis.
I am upset for you that your 3rd Wimbledon Title is now out of reach.
Do not dwell on the outcome…move on & look forward to USA Tournament.
God Bless and keep you injury free.
Vamos Rafa 🇪🇸🇮🇪🇪🇸🎾🎾💕💕💚🇪🇸