Swept aside by Hurkacz, Nadal walks out in the second round in Rome!

It's hard to believe. Rafael Nadal, the undisputed king of clay, suffered one of the toughest defeats of his career on Saturday. Faced with a very good Pole (22 winners, 8 unforced errors, 9 aces), particularly with his serve and forehand, the Majorcan found himself without any solutions (6-1, 6-3 in 1h32).

Despite a good start to the match, in which he was very present on the return, 'Rafa' quickly collapsed. Lacking feeling (16 winners, 11 unforced errors), the 37-year-old was sorely lacking in efficiency and drive. He was very shaky on his serve (4 break points) and visibly unable to seize his opportunities (0/7 break points), so it was only logical that he should leave Italy in his second match.

Hurkacz, meanwhile, continues to traumatize fans of the "big three". After playing and winning the last match of Roger Federer's career at Wimbledon 2021 (6-3, 7-6, 6-0), the Pole put an end to Nadal's history in Rome.

He made a perfect start to the tournament, avoiding the huge trap of a second round match against the Manacor bull. Imperial on serve and ultra-aggressive, the world number 9 didn't give his opponent a moment's peace and made it through to the third round.

Having arrived in Rome with far more certainty than expected, this tournament ultimately plunged the Spaniard into doubt. In view of his performance today, doubts persist as to whether he will be able to play at Roland-Garros one last time. In any case, his fans will soon know for sure, as he had indicated that he would make his decision after Rome.

In view of the latest positive signals sent out by Rafa and his clan since Madrid, the big question now is whether this was a match without or rather a sad and difficult return to reality.

To be continued...