Rafael Nadal bowed out of Barcelona open after succumbing to a straight-set against Alex de Minaur on Wednesday (April 17). As a result of the win, De Minaur, who was seeded fourth heading into the competition, advanced to the third round after he beat Nadal 7-5, 6-1 in a match that lasted one hour and 51 minutes long battle.
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The 22-time Grand Slam champion will no longer be making scheduled appearances at the BNP Paribas Open and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. These were Masters 1000 tournaments which the Spaniard has managed clinch thrice and 11 times respectively over the course of his illustrious career.
Nadal was featuring in only the second tournament of the year which was his first since January. In the earlier tournament, he had made it to the quarterfinal stage of the competition in Brisbane.
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Had the chance to say goodbye in Barcelona on court: Nadal
"At least, how things went, for me I had the chance to say goodbye here on court," Nadal said after his defeat to De Minaur as quoted in an ATP Tour Report. "That means a lot to me, because I probably felt one week ago that I was not able to play in this event. That would have been painful, so at least I played, I enjoyed the game, and now is the moment to keep going," he added.
"Alex is a great player. In terms of tennis today, he was in better shape than me," said Nadal.
"He has really played at a very high level since the beginning of the season. I think he has made a very important step forward in his level of tennis. I’m just happy for him and I congratulate him for the level he played today," the 37-year-old stated.
(With Inputs From IANS)