Nadal upbeat despite first round defeat at Queen’s

 

Originally published on 16/06/15

In his first appearance at The Queen’s Club since 2011, Nadal led by a break in the deciding set but was unable to fend off an inspired Dolgopolov, who claimed his second career win against the Spaniard with a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4 victory.

But Nadal, who won his first grass court title in five years at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart last week, has played six matches on grass, one more than when he won the title at Queen’s in 2008, when he went on to win his first Wimbledon crown, and he is confident he will be 100% ready for the Championships, which start on June 29.

“I've never I played more [matches] before Wimbledon,” he said. “The year I played five matches I won here in 2008, and this year I have already played five matches.

“There is nothing very negative; I won a tournament last week. This week I lost an opportunity, but I am playing better than before, and enjoying myself more on court than before. Today I lost but I will keep going, keep practising hard.  I hope to be ready to play well at Wimbledon.”

After taking the opening set, Dolgopolov looked to have missed his opportunity after seeing match point pass him by in the second-set tiebreak as Nadal leveled before taking a 4-2 lead in the decider. However, the world No.79 broke back and won the final four games to claim his second successive win against Nadal after beating him in three sets at Indian Wells last year.

“In Indian Wells I had a really good run so I was more waiting for that win, I believed I could do it,” said Dolgopolov. “I would say [this win] is more important for me. I had a rough end of last year, I had surgery, and I didn’t have a good start to this season with some injuries. So it’s important confidence-wise and to get back on the level I would like to be on.”

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