LONDON–
World no. 1 Rafael Nadal suffered a shock opening defeat to the defending ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev in straight sets 6-2 6-4 in both their first match here at the O2.
The Spaniard was unable to gain any sort of momentum throughout the match and especially when facing Zverev’s serve. The always usual reliable return of the Spaniard was unable to create a single break point chance on the German’s serve and the 33-year-old struggled in his own service game and was broken three times in the entire match.
After the match in the press conference, a respected tennis journalist asked the Spaniard whether his marriage ceremony last week had anything to do with his defeat against the 21-year-old German, whom he had never lost to before in their past five encounters.
“Tonight you were playing very short many times… For many people to get married is a very important thing… I’d like to know if somehow your concentration on tennis life has been a bit different even if you were going out with the same girl for many, many years,” asked Scanagatta.
The 19-time Grand Slam champion looked perplexed by the question. “Honestly, are you asking me this? Is a serious question or is a joke? Is it serious?”
“Okay. I surprise, [it] is a big surprise for me you ask me this after I have been with the same girl for 15 years and having a very stable and normal life. Doesn’t matter if you put a ring on your finger or not. In my personal way, I am a very normal guy.”
“Okay. We move to Spanish, because that’s bull****. Thank you very much.” said the Spaniard as he ended the press conference abruptly.
https://twitter.com/conceptsbattle/status/1194076869571645441
Rafael Nadal will now play Daniil Medvedev, who he has already beaten twice already this year. It will be a must win match for both players to keep their chances alive of being here in the tournament.
Main Photo from Getty.
