In the carousel of tributes and farewells in which Rafael Nadal (37) has been immersed, he has now said goodbye to Rome.
He had won the Foro Italico ten times, the last in 2021 against Novak Djokovic, he will no longer do so.
Hubert Hurkacz (6-1 and 6-3), a Polish puncher with the soul of an undertaker, has cut him off: in 2021, at Wimbledon, Hurkacz had retired Roger Federer in very bad ways, dispatching him with a final rosco.
Whatever the mythomaniacs think, Hurkacz (27) has his way.
The Romans suffocate from the heat, they deploy their umbrellas, the wind does not blow on the Tiber, the Pole does not hesitate before the manacorí, perhaps he enjoys his role.
From a psychological point of view, Nadal has gone from strength to strength in recent weeks.
Out of the scene in Monte Carlo, then still too green in his tennis.
More doubtful in Barcelona.
More intermittent in Madrid.
Now, in Rome, definitely engaged.
(Even with the ranking protected, the draw holds uncomfortable surprises for him: in the first rounds, he has to face De Miñaur, Lehecka or Hurkacz; reaching them without shooting is a leap into uncertainty).
“I can’t hold anything back anymore, it’s time to push and get rid of the fear of breaking down,” he had said days ago, on the eve of his start at the Foro Italico, before facing Zizou Bergs.
The speech was forceful, perhaps proposing a turning point, but the result has been bittersweet.
Very diminished in the serve, also lacking an overwhelming forehand, Nadal was going to have to squeeze himself against the Belgian (only 108th in the world) in that first match, he had needed three sets to win.
And this Saturday, against Hurkacz, he was already seen crestfallen and downcast, almost surrendered when he went to break in the first set, when he had lost serve on two occasions and had verified that his serve never worried the Pole (not a single ace in the first set, compared to Hurkacz’s eight, nine at the end of the match; in that first section, the man from Manaco had barely won 48% of the points with his first serve).
Helpless from then on, the king of clay has never found the creases of the Pole, a consistent player, difficult to unbalance him although never a first sword of tennis: today Hurkacz is number 9 in the world, he is one step away from his Everest , the number 8 he wore this January.
Hurkacz’s consistency – piledriver to the rest – has ended up ruining Nadal, as excited as he is autumnal, today a sailor sailing against the current: no matter how much he advances in his performance and mental determination, the man from Manaco is light years away from his best times, since he has lost three of his last eight matches on clay, an inconceivable fact when they won the tournaments three by three, when his mere presence, his Nadalidad, broke the resistance of any opponent.
Now, Nadal will have to return to the couch, reread everything that has happened in the last month and a half and ask himself what he should do to find his best version, or part of it: the silhouette of Roland Garros takes shape in the background.
On his way to Paris, the manacorí is already without a net.
