World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has lost his opening match of the ATP Finals after being stunned by defending champion Alexander Zverev in straight sets.
Our champ went down 6-2, 6-4 to Zverev in 84 minutes at the O2 Arena even though Rafa went into the match with a 5-0 career win record over the young German.
After the match, Rafa said:
I am not the kind of person that says why does this happen. I have to accept [the defeat] as I have done in my whole career.
I haven’t played well, I’m not happy about that. I have to improve a lot if I want to win the other match.
I have no margin for error and I’m feeling bad because I lost a game I didn’t like. I accept the feeling that it was not good.
I wasn’t feeling uncomfortable in the abdominal area. I simply lacked pace and confidence in my shots.
It doesn’t really matter or make much difference [to how you play] if you put a ring on your finger.
Novak Djokovic, who can overtake Rafa at the top of the world rankings this week, leads the other group after winning on Sunday as the top eight players of the year compete in the season-ending event.
The top two players in each group after the round-robin stage progress to the semi-finals on Saturday.
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain walks out prior to his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain acknowledges the fans as he walks out prior to his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain warms up prior to his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he sits down during a change of ends in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he sits down during a change of ends in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain drys himself with a towel as he sits down during a change of ends in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal during his match against Alexander Zverev during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal on day two of the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 Arena, London. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal in action on day two of the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 Arena, London. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts in his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal wipes his face on day two of the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 Arena, London. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain shakes hands at the net with Alexander Zverev of Germany after their singles match during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain and Alexander Zverev of Germany embrace at the net after their singles match during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain and Alexander Zverev of Germany embrace at the net after their singles match during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal waves to the crowd on day two of the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 Arena, London. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain waves to the crowd as he leaves the court after his singles match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during Day Two of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena on November 11, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Ubaldo’s question to Rafa along with Rafa’s response have gone viral. Seems as if every outlet has picked up the incident.
Thanks Margo! Yes. That’s worrying. Worries about his confidence too in that case. If he becomes too wary and defensive that’d be bad too.
Well I hope he can forget that match and carry on with what needs to be done
VAMOS Rafa!!!
Rafa fan 1, I agree. It’s all behind him now and I hope he’s just looking forward.
RAFA ROCKS
What were those remarks Margo?
Rafa supplied a list of reasons for his loss:
Poor preparation
Zverev was hitting at 140mph every time
The speed of the surface
Inability to capatilize on the big points
He couldn’t find a rhythm
Lack of energy
He lacked rhythm when needed in order to read the points that were of most value
He lacked confidence to hit winning shots.
He also said this type of tournament allows for only one loss and that he hopes to do better in his next match.
As I am not familiar with tennis terms in Spanish maybe someone else can take a shot at translating.
Correction: capitalize not capitilize
I am extremely worried after reading Rafa’s comments to the Spanish press.
[SOURCE: PuntoDeBreak[
Rafa, you have to be more like speedy gonzales on these courts. move like a rubber band being shot around the court. Concentrate on each point and forget about the last point won or loss. You have the ability and you should be able to knock it out of the park. Stay Confident in your abilities and CONTROL the point and don’t lose your serve for goodness sake. Control, Control , Control . You’ve got this just be more flexible on your feet and hit more corner shots and please please please no more balls in the net.
a fan forever
kathie
Rafa venga esto ha sido un revés, pero tu puedes cariño mucha suerte y fuerza 💪 💪 VAMOS!!!!!
A bad day for you Rafa vamosssssssssssss for the next Mach and good luck 👍💪🎾😘❤️
VAMOS SWEETHEART AND GOOD EVENING!!!!!!!!!!:) ENJOY EVERYTHING AND IMAGINE ALL POSITIVE AND YOU ARE PLAYING IN SPAIN…..KEEP GOING SWEETHEART…..HAVE A GREAT WEEK NO MATTER WHAT……NOTHING TOO IMPORTANT HAPPENED AND NO BIG DEAL…..JUST TAKE GOOD CARE AND KNOW IF THIS WAS A 5 SET MATCH RESULTS COULD BE IN YOUR FAVOR….BUT THE TRUTH IS IT IS TOTALLY OK TO WIN SOME AND LOOSE SOME…..IT IS AS YOU SAY, A PART OF THE SPORT……WHAT MAKES US HAPPY IS THAT YOU WARMED UP …..HAD FEISTY GREAT MOMENTS AND YOUR PRECIOUS EFFECTIVE SERVE AND MOVEMENT WERE SOLID!!!!!!!!!!!:) UST RAN OUT OF TIME…..
VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!:)
You gotta hand it to Zverev. He rose to the occasion with incredible serving and went toe to toe with Rafa. Indoor courts definitely suit his style of game and there is a reason why he won this tournament last year. Rafa just couldn’t cope with being rushed and wasn’t given much rhythm.
Assuming no injuries, Rafa is going have to sharpen things up considerably if he’s to come through this group and Medvedev will be another huge hurdle.
BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
By all the love for Rafa, but this was a terrible match from him.
Take rest and than good luck against Medvedev. Vamos Rafa <3
It seemed to me he was playing as if affected by his latest injury? Just wondering.