Federer, Clijsters share thoughts on Nadal’s early exit

Top tennis stars Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters were asked about their opinion about the stunning second-round loss of two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal to 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic. Both players revealed that they watched the match.

“I just wanted Nadal to win and come back,” Clijsters said, a four-time Grand Slam titlist.

“I think he did everything right to try to stay in the match, especially in the fifth set. But the guy played incredible. I’m curious to see how he’s going to play [against Philipp Kohlschreiber] because a lot of times he looked a little bit arrogant out there. So I wonder how he’ll react in his next match, if he can stay grounded, keep his feet on the ground, and try to keep that result going,” she added.

Clijsters is particularly interested as to how Rosol will fare against Germany’s Philip Kohlschreiber in the next round. Kohlschreiber happens to be the last player to beat Nadal, at a grasscourt tournament in Halle two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Federer said that he felt bad for Nadal but he said that it was amazing to see such upsets can still be possible.

“I think 15 years ago you had matches like this so much more often on the faster surfaces, that a guy could catch fire and just run through you,” Federer said.

“Today it’s virtually impossible because you make so many more returns these days and conditions are so much slower with the elements. Whereas it was just amazing to see that it was possible. Okay, he didn’t play like that for five sets, but in the fifth it was just a joke. I was laughing because of his performance for 10 minutes after that. I couldn’t believe that he pulled it off the way he did. Of course I do feel bad for Rafa because it’s a tough loss; it’s Wimbledon; it’s the way things happen,” he ended.