French Open champion Rafael Nadal was philosophical about his shock second-round defeat to 100th-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol at the Wimbledon.
The Spanish second seed looked to have fought his way back into the match, cruising to the fourth set after taking the first and surprisingly dropping the next two.
But Rosol rallied and won a dramatic decider to record a 6-7 (11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory. Nadal, a two-time Wimbledon champion, had nothing but praise for the exceptional performance of his opponent in the fifth set, but added his poor play was a factor in the final result. “Nothing to do in the fifth set. He played more than unbelievably.
But before, in the first three sets, I didn’t play well,” Nadal said. But Nadal appeared anything but devastated by the result. “That’s not a tragedy; it’s just a tennis match. Last four months were great for me, probably the best months in my career playing unbelievable in the clay court season.
The only thing I can do is go back home and rest, I need and deserve it.” Nadal said. In the next round, Lukas Rosol will face 27th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.