It was never going to be easy, but the nature of Rafael Nadal's defeat over Alexandr Dolgopolov was yet more evidence that the Spaniard is a long way off reaching the heaving heights of his former glory. He struggled to get going all day, whilst the Ukrainian produced a performance fitting of his former top twenty ranking in his three-set victory.
Dolgopolov proves too good for Nadal
The defeat for Nadal, in his first appearance at Queen's for three years, will hurt even more coming off the back of his impressive victory on the grass of Germany. But he never looked like producing his best tennis against an opponent who who defeated him the last time they met. Playing some hugely impressive tennis and battering down the hard hitting of Nadal, Dolgopolov raced into the lead and held his nerve to take the opening set 6-3 against a flustered looking Spaniard.
The second set proved a more battling affair, as Nadal fought back and began to produce even better tennis. The backhands were crisper and the forehand more powerful as Dolgopolov began to show glimmers of an edgy mind. This would prove crucial in the deciding tiebreak, with the Ukrainian blowing several match points as his backhand went missing on key chances. Nadal made no such mistake as he took the match into a decider.
And from there, it looked like Nadal would race towards victory as he produced winner-after-winner and when he broke the Ukrainian's serve to snatch all of the monentum, the writing seemed to be on the wall. However, out of nowhere, Dolgopolov rediscovered the form of the first set and fought his way back into the match before breaking Nadal in a tight game to seal the victory.
The manner of his play will raise questions of Dolgopolov's pitful ranking as his wonderfully unique style had Nadal chasing shadows at time. Nadal, meanwhile, will take heart from his victory last week and will know that he still has a lot of work to do if he is to challenge for another grand slam title.
Wawrinka races through
Dolgopolov will be joined in the next round by the French Open champion, Stan Wawrinka, who easily dismissed the challenge of the big-serving Australian, Nick Kyrgios, in the first match of the day. The straight sets victory will have proved a welcome first match for the Swiss on the grass.
And in the match from last night, Grigor Dimitrov, the reigning champion, finally defeated Sam Querrey of America. Dimitrov, who looked in real trouble last night, came back from a set down to win.
Results
A Dolgopolov d. R Nadal (5) 63 67(6) 64
S Wawrinka (2) d. N Kyrgios 63 64
G Dimitrov (6) d S Querrey 46 63 64