It was a victory that shocked the tennis world. World number five and heavy favorite Rafael Nadal was ousted in the first round of Wimbledon 2013 Championships by 135th-ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. It is the first time in Nadal’s 35 trips in a Grand Slam to lose in the first round.
Concerns are mounting on the state of Nadal’s knees as he was seen wobbling several times in the match. Last year, Nadal was ousted at the All England Club in the second round by then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.
The victory on Day 1 of The Championships garnered a lot of attention with both Steve Darcis and Nadal making it in the Worldwide Trends in Twitter after that history loss.
Nadal is fresh from an eighth French Open victory earlier this month. Since his comeback last February, Nadal has reached nine finals out of nine tournaments he had entered, winning seven of those titles including the Roland Garros. He became the only player in history to win the same Grand Slam event eight times after winning the French Open.
The Spaniard opted not to participate in any grasscourt warmup events, pulling out of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle after the victory in Paris.
Nadal became the first player since Gustavo Kuerten in 1997 to win the French Open then lose the first round match at Wimbledon.
