Verdasco upends Nadal at 14th time of asking
World number two blames poor movement on unusual clay surface
It was a result nobody could have predicted. Rafael Nadal was knocked out of the Madrid Open on Thursday by his fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco, the man who has lost to him in all their previous 13 encounters — the biggest run of defeats that any active player has racked up against the same opponent.
“I’m speechless,” said Verdasco, who was on the verge of tears after his 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 third-round win over the world number two. “I feel very happy and I’m thinking about all the times I tried to win and failed.”
The Madrileño is only the seventh player to beat Nadal on his favored clay surface since 2005.
Nadal once again expressed his unhappiness with the new blue clay surface at the event. “Movements are very important to me. I couldn’t move and I lost because I deserved to,” he said.
Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo
¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción?
Si continúas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podrá leer en el otro.
FlechaTu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PAÍS desde un dispositivo a la vez.
Si quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium, así podrás añadir otro usuario. Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS.
¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? Accede aquí para contratar más cuentas.
En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí.
Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital.
More information
Últimas noticias
From digital curfews to blocking apps: How technology experts protect their children online
Why the price of coffee has skyrocketed: from Brazilian plantations to specialty coffee houses
Confined to a Cuban hospital: When electricity is a matter of life or death
The complicated life of Francesca Albanese: A rising figure in Italy but barred from every bank by Trump’s sanctions
Most viewed
- Why we lost the habit of sleeping in two segments and how that changed our sense of time
- Pablo Escobar’s hippos: A serious environmental problem, 40 years on
- Trump’s obsession with putting his name on everything is unprecedented in the United States
- The Florida Keys tourist paradise is besieged by immigration agents: ‘We’ve never seen anything like this’
- Charles Dubouloz, mountaineering star, retires at 36 with a farewell tour inspired by Walter Bonatti
