DOHA – Spaniard Rafael Nadal’s ability to make a quick recovery from multiple ailments has been thrown into doubt as he lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to German Michael Berrer in Qatar.
Yesterday’s first round match was Nadal’s first match of the 2015 ATP World Tour and he appeared to have had insufficient time to recover from an appendectomy, and far too little match practice over the last two months.
Nevertheless, it was a humiliating outcome for one of the most successful players of all time, who won the first set at a canter, and then found himself quite unable to play anywhere near the standard he would have hoped for.
It not only cost Nadal the title here and raised doubts about his ability to make any sort of challenge for the Australian Open, but may cause questions about what sort of season this is going to be for him.
Berrer is a 34-year-old qualifier ranked outside the top 100 who is playing the last season of his career.
Nadal has also been suffering from back and wrist injuries, which reduced his service speed greatly.
Berrer had only taken four games in four sets off Nadal in their previous two meetings, but recognised a career-greatest opportunity and in patches responded by raising his standards to new heights. He was also admirably frank in his assessment.
“It’s one of the matches which will stay in my memory for ever, but let’s be honest it was the first match for Rafa after injury,” he said.
Earler Berrer commented: “What I’ve learned from my studies for my sports psychology masters degree is to avoid thinking about these things.”
This was a reference to dealing with the pressure of closing out a career-best win against a legend. “In the first set it felt like the other matches against him,” he added. “Then it became easy to attack because it was the only chance I had.
“It’s also my last season and I had nothing to lose, and I’m enjoying it here — so why not?”