16 June,2015 09:49 PM IST | | AFP
Rafael Nadal suffered a shock first round exit from the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's Club as the Spanish star was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 by unheralded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday
Rafael Nadal
London: Rafael Nadal suffered a shock first round exit from the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's Club as the Spanish star was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 by unheralded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal reacts during his first round men's singles match against Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov on the second day of the ATP Aegon Championships tennis tournament at the Queen's Club in west London on Tuesday. Dolgopolov won 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Pic/AFP
Nadal's dismal defeat against world number 79 Dolgopolov was the latest in a growing list of lacklustre performances in a troubled 2015 campaign for the former world number one.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner was beaten at the French Open for only the second time in his glittering career when Novak Djokovic won their quarter-final clash in Paris.
As a result, Nadal's ranking has plunged to 10th -- his lowest position for a decade -- and to add insult to injury he will now head to Wimbledon, which gets underway later this month, with renewed questions about a decline that hit a new low with this setback in west London.
