Rafa Nadal crashed to his earliest exit at the French Open on Monday after a 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 first-round defeat by fourth seed Alexander Zverev, with fans wondering if the 14-times champion will return to the Grand Slam he has ruled for two decades.
Rafael Nadal's record-breaking French Open career came to its likely end on Monday when the 14-time champion slumped to a demoralising first round defeat against Alexander Zverev.Nadal, who turns 38 on June 3, went down 6-3, 7-6 , 6-3 to world number four Zverev, suffering only his fourth loss in 116 matches at Roland Garros since his 2005 title-winning debut.
However, he insisted on the eve of the tournament that he was"100% keeping the door open" on his future in a sport which has brought him 22 Grand Slam titles. Chants of"Rafa, Rafa" had loudly echoed under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier which was shut tight against the torrential rain sweeping across the grounds and bringing havoc to the schedule.
A tense tie-breaker followed which the German claimed, buoyed by stretching to 5/3 on the back of a gruelling 19-shot rally. The effort was too much and a composed Zverev was soon 4-3 up and the match was over when Nadal fired a forehand wide and long. The Italian star struck 32 winners and broke Eubanks' serve five times as he set up a second-round meeting with French veteran Richard Gasquet.
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