Rafael Nadal’s dream of four straight Grand Slam titles ended on Wednesday, with the world number one shattered by a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 quarterfinal loss to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer at the Australian Open.
Nadal suffered from what appeared to be a hamstring injury, but the top-seed refused to confirm any diagnosis.
“It was a difficult day for me, I tried my best, I couldn’t do more,” he said. “Tonight I think I played against a great player, a great opponent. Today I really can’t do more than what I did. So he played at a very high level, and I wasn’t able to compete against him tonight.”
“It’s obvious that I didn’t feel at my best. I had a problem during the match, at the very beginning. After that, the match was almost over. “For me it’s difficult come here and speak. In Doha (early January) I wasn’t healthy (virus). Today I have another problem. Seems like I always have problems when I lose, and I don’t want to have this image.
“I prefer not to talk about that today.” “This is one of my bad moments,” said Nadal. “One of the negative moments. That’s part of the sport. I’m a very lucky sportsman in my career.
“I have to accept the fantastic moments that I had during a lot of years with the same calm as when I have problems. And if I am ready to accept both things ... I’m going to be able to come back and play my best tennis another time.”
