Agence France Presse
London, July 3: Rafael Nadal insisted Thursday that he has no intentions of quitting tennis despite slumping to a fourth successive Wimbledon humiliation.
The 29-year-old Spaniard was humbled 5-7, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 by dreadlock German Dustin Brown, the World No. 102, in a Wimbledon second round match Thursday evening.
Brown, who once was so short of cash that he travelled to tournaments in a camper van, hit 13 aces and 58 winners on the back of a free-hitting, serve-and-volley barrage.
Thursday’s loss followed his 2012 second round exit to World No. 100 Lukas Rosol, a first round beating by the 135-ranked Steve Darcis in 2013 and last year’s fourth round defeat to Nick Kyrgios, who was then ranked World No. 144.
But the 14-time Grand Slam winner vowed to fight on in an effort to restore his reputation as the sport’s most feared competitor.
“So I lost. Sad today (Thursday) for that, obviously,” said Nadal. “But that’s sport. Good moments, bad moments. Obviously it is a bad moment for me. I just need to accept these kinds of things can happen. I did that all my career. “I will keep going. It’s not the end. Life continues and my career, too. I have to keep going and working more than ever to try to change that dynamic.”
This year, Nadal has looked a shadow of the player he once was. He missed the defence of his US Open title in 2014 due to a wrist injury and then underwent an appendectomy, shutting down most of the second half of the year.
Nadal knows that a third Wimbledon crown may be beyond him especially with the grass courts proving the most demanding of all the surfaces on his troublesome knees.
“In 2012 and 2013, I was not ready to compete well. Last year and this year, no problems at all with my knees. So I was ready to compete. I lost. I don’t know if I will be back to the level of the time when I became champion here,” stated the Spaniard. “But then you know my nature, I never give up.”
