ROME, Italy (AFP) ‒ Clay court king Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Italian Open on Saturday, falling to a straight sets defeat to Argentine Diego Schwartzman in a tournament the Spaniard had won nine times.
Eight-seeded Schwartzman meted out a punishing 6-2, 7-5 loss in Nadal’s final warm-up before his bid for a 13th French Open, and record-equalling 20th Grand Slam in just over a week.
Top men’s seed Novak Djokovic also stumbled on the Roman clay but recovered to win through 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 against German qualifier Dominik Koepfer.
“It was not my night at all,” said Nadal, who had won all nine previous meetings against 28-year-old Schwartzman, but could not match his rival’s stunning game on the red clay of the Foro Italico.
“He played a great match, not me, when this happens you have to lose,” continued the 34-year-old.
“It’s not a moment for excuses. I’ve spent a long time without competing, I played two good matches.”
The two-time defending champion was making his comeback after a six-month coronavirus-enforced break having skipped the US Open ahead of Roland Garros with its first round on September 27.
“Losing as many serves, you can’t expect to win a match, it’s something that I have to fix, I know how to do it,” he warned.
“It’s a special and unpredictable year, I’ll probably go back home and let’s see.”
Schwartzman next plays Canadian 12th seed Denis Shapovalov for a place in the final.
“Today I played my best tennis,” said the Argentine.
Djokovic, meanwhile, let his frustrations spill over in a two-hour battle with his 97th-ranked German rival.
Two weeks after his US Open default for accidently hitting a line judge with a ball, the Serb struggled to contain his emotions, throwing his racket after a lost service game, with shouts of anger resounding in the silence of the empty Central Court.
“Well, let me tell you that it’s not the first nor the last racquet that I’ll break in my career. I have done it before,” he warned.
“I’ll probably do it again. I don’t want to do it, but when it comes, it happens.
