Tennis Panorama Archives

Archives of TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013

TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013
  • Home
  • Tennis Panorama
You are here: Home / Features / Unknown Rosol Takes Down Nadal in Second Round at Wimbledon

Unknown Rosol Takes Down Nadal in Second Round at Wimbledon

June 28, 2012 By Tennis Panorama News

WIMBLEDON – Who could have predicted that the Wimbledon Centre Court match of the day was going to be a little known player (ranked No. 100) from the Czech Republic against World No. 2 Rafael Nadal?

 

Lukas Rosol not only sensationally, but confidently and competently dispatched Nadal 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

 

From the start, Rosol was serving big and heavy, actually making Nadal look slow.

It was clear from the start this guy was not going to go down timidly, and given that Tomaz Bellucci had taken four games of Nadal in his first round match, there was an expectation that he might start slow.

 

But it is fair to say that nobody quite expected the outcome.

 

Nadal had to dig very deep to finally close out the first set tiebreak 9-7.

 

Rosol could have easily just dropped his head and followed the script meekly, but was too busy making Nadal look, at times, ordinary.

 

Nadal was clearly rattled at the end of the second set, and there were angry glances both to his team and across the net at times.

 

It really was not until the fourth set that Nadal seemed to be back to his pumped up self, and that certainly seemed to be when he was most energized.

 

At the end of what has been a beautiful day in Wimbledon, the roof was to be deployed for the fifth set.

 

Nadal did not seem to happy, and with good reason as momentum was with him, and a small break to recoup was just what Rosol needed.

 

From the start, he broke Nadal and stayed that crucial break ahead.

 

Prior to this match Rosol had never made it past the first round.

 

But this year he attributed his success to much more grass-court work, playing Queens and Eastbourne instead of just the Wimbledon Qualifying rounds.

 

But what stood out in his performance was his utter fearlessness, against the World No. 2, and on one of the most prestigious courts in the tennis world.

 

Rosol said: “I closed it inside.

 

“I just don’t want to show him what is in me.”

 

Perhaps his nerves showed in the fourth set, but certainly not in the decider.

 

He continued: “Before the last game I was a little bit, you know, like inside I’m not sure if I will be shaking or not because was first time against Rafa and first time also in Wimbledon Centre Court.”

 

“You never know what to expect.  So was not easy, and I survive.”

 

But what of Nadal?

 

The last time Nadal went out in the second round of a Grand Slam was again in Wimbledon, in 2005, beaten by Gilles Muller.

 

The last No. 2 seed to lose in the second round at Wimbledon was Marat Safin in 2002, who fell to Olivier Rochus.

 

Certainly, at a time when he had the momentum, the decision to close the roof was probably not what he needed to hear.

 

Nadal said: “For sure wasn’t the best one for me.

But that’s what it is and accept.”

He continued: “I was surprised because takes 30 to 45 minutes.”

 

He acknowledged that despite winning the first set tiebreaker, his performance had been below par in the first three sets.

 

He said: “I played bad and my return wasn’t work very well.

“I think my served worked well, but I played with little bit less energy than other times.”

 

Although the match was not without moments of needleling,  a bit of a changeover incident, words with umpires and unhappiness with the decision to bring on the roof.

 

But Nadal conceded that on his day, Rosol had done the job.

 

“The thing is today he played great.  He played special.”

 

Rosol will now go on to face Phillip Kohlschrieber in the third round.

 

Ros Satar is a British Journalist- an IT journalist by day, and a sports journalist in all the gaps in between. She is the co-founder of Britwatch Sports (britwatchsports.com). Follow her on twitter at @rfsatar.

 

Filed Under: Features, Front Page News, news conference, tennis news, tournament coverage, tournaments Tagged With: 2012 Wimbledon, Lukas Rosol, Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon

Archives

  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • March 2009
  • December 2008

Copyright © 2022 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in