Thursday night at the Citi Open, Nadal’s ferocious forehand and vaunted fighting spirit were simply not enough. Despite the cries of “Vamos!” from a capacity crowd, the top-seeded Nadal was beaten by South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, who blasted 16 aces en route to the 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 upset.
On the heels of American wild-card Jenson Brooksby’s straight-sets toppling of Felix Auger-Aliassime earlier in the day, the Citi Open lost its top two seeds in roughly a six-hour span.
Nadal’s first career appearance at the Citi Open has been a boon for the tournament, a fixture in Washington’s sporting summer for 52 years. Tickets for the event sold out almost the moment his participation was confirmed. For days, the tournament grounds teemed with Nadal supporters who came to watch the 20-time Grand Slam champion practice over the weekend and packed the Stadium Court, 7,800 strong, to cheer him through his early rounds.
On Sunday, the day before the tournament got underway, Nadal disclosed that an injury to his left foot was the reason he withdrew from Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics after a grueling loss to Novak Djokovic at the French Open on June 11.
The Citi Open, he explained, represented a major step in his return to form — a logical place to launch the hard-court season that culminates with the U.S. Open, which gets underway Aug. 30, and gauge his readiness.
But on Wednesday, Nadal needed more than three hours to win his opening match against Jack Sock, a player who had never beaten him in five previous attempts. Afterward, Nadal was frank about the pain he felt in his foot as the match wore on, which he likened to suffering.
Asked how he planned to balance the need to rest his foot with the need to practice, Nadal said: “I have been resting enough. Maybe is not about resting but is the moment to just keep going, no?”
Against the 6-foot-4 Harris, 24, who hit with abandon from the outset, Nadal could go only so far.
After ceding the first set, Nadal stormed back and conjured some line-painting winners to level the match and force a third set.
But Harris kept the pressure on through a tight third set. More than once, Harris cleverly wrong-footed Nadal, and the Spaniard made no furious effort to backpedal, essentially conceding the point in uncharacteristic fashion.
The lanky South African closed with a textbook lob that sailed high over Nadal’s head and plopped well inside the baseline, utterly irretrievable.
“To beat a 20-time Grand Slam champion, and especially in front of a full crowd and with such an amazing atmosphere, it was definitely something very special,” said the 50th-ranked Harris.
Nadal offered high praise for his opponent.
“All the credit to him that he played aggressive,” Nadal said. “He played well. He was brave. So, well done.”
For his part, Nadal said he had to accept the fact that he needed to keep working, to keep trying his best, with next week’s Masters 1000 event in Toronto his likely next step.
“The foot was better than yesterday,” Nadal said. “I was able to move a bit better, so that is very important, especially for me personally, to keep enjoying the sport and keep having energy, believing that important things are possible.
But he added: “I need to keep improving, it’s true. … I did as much as I could, and I tried hard in two long matches.”
He apologized to the fans who had shown up to cheer him on and to the tournament officials who had made him feel so welcome on his first visit to Washington.
“Sorry for the defeat,” Nadal said. “The most painful thing is not be able to be on court again tomorrow in front of this amazing crowd.”
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Rafael Nadal, ousted from Citi Open by Lloyd Harris, vows to keep working to regain form - The Washington Post
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