Rafael Nadal made an early exit at Queen’s Club with a three-set defeat by unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov. The Spanish 5th seed led by a break in the final set but went down 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 in round one of the Aegon Championships.
Nadal, 29, had arrived in London following victory at the Stuttgart grass-court event on Sunday.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka and title holder Grigor Dimitrov both progressed.
Wawrinka began his grass-court season with a 6-3 6-4 win over Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, and Dimitrov completed a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Sam Querrey.
Britain’s Andy Murray beat Taiwanese qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu, before US Open champion and fourth seed Marin Cilic beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2.
Nadal made a slow start against Dolgopolov, dropping serve immediately and almost falling a double break behind.
Dolgopolov served out the first set with little fuss, keeping Nadal at bay with his unorthodox mix of pace and spin, and had his first chance to win the match at 6-5 in the tie-break in the second set.
A swinging serve saved Nadal and the 2008 champion seemingly made the decisive move early in the third, converting his first break point after one hour and 42 minutes.
However, a time violation followed for the Spaniard and Dolgopolov got back on level terms at 4-4, fending off three break points before grabbing his second match point with a forehand winner.
“I was fighting in every point,” Nadal said. “I was with the right concentration, with the right motivation, not giving up when I had tough moments.
“I’m not happy I lost a match that I had a chance to win, but that’s it. That’s tennis on grass.”
Nadal made a slow start against Dolgopolov, dropping serve immediately and almost falling a double break behind.
Dolgopolov served out the first set with little fuss, keeping Nadal at bay with his unorthodox mix of pace and spin, and had his first chance to win the match at 6-5 in the tie-break in the second set.
A swinging serve saved Nadal and the 2008 champion seemingly made the decisive move early in the third, converting his first break point after one hour and 42 minutes.
However, a time violation followed for the Spaniard and Dolgopolov got back on level terms at 4-4, fending off three break points before grabbing his second match point with a forehand winner.
“I was fighting in every point,” Nadal said. “I was with the right concentration, with the right motivation, not giving up when I had tough moments.
“I’m not happy I lost a match that I had a chance to win, but that’s it. That’s tennis on grass.”
“I was very positive and woke up in a good spirit,” said the sixth seed.
Queen's: Rafael Nadal out
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