Nadal Shock as Win Streak Ended

The crowd at this week's Barcelona Open were treated to a shock on Friday as eight time Champion, Rafael Nadal, crashed out of tournament for the first time in eleven years.

The 'King of Clay' had won each of his last 41 matches in Barcelona, only previously losing to Alex Corretja in his debut tournament of 2003. As well as that, the Spaniard had previously lost just two sets in all 41 of those victories.

But his three set loss to fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro doubled this tally as he was defeated 2-6 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals. This was also the first time that Almagro had ever managed to beat Nadal in ten previous meetings.

The match started in routine fashion as Nadal broke his fellow countryman twice to claim the first set 6-2/ However, from there the tide began to turn as Almagro made less sloppy errors, finding much more epth in the court than Nadal.

A tight second set was decided by a tie-break and it was Almagro who emerged victorious, taking only his second set off the 13 time Grand Slam Champion to force a decider.

With momentum firmly behind him, Almagro pushed on, capitalising on some wayward serving from his opponent to get the vital break and eventually serve out the match to book a place in the semi-finals against the Columbian Santiago Giraldo.

This is by no means the first shock of the year for Nadal who, after enduring a phenomenal 2013, has suffered a number of uncharacteristic losses already. His third round loss to Alexandr Dolgopolov in Indian Wells and his defeat last week in Monte Carlo to David Ferrer suggest he is not as his best as he prepares for the French Open.

And with significant ranking points to defend in recent weeks, Nadal will have to look much sharper on the clay courts of Madrid in two weeks time if he is to fend off the challenge of Novak Djokovic for his world number one position.

Dimitrov and Delbonis Rise To Career Highs

Victories in Mexico and Brazil respectively have seen both Grigor Dimitrov and Federico Delbonis rise to new career high rankings this week.

Dimitrov, dubbed 'Baby Fed' due to his similarities to Roger Federer, claimed only his second ATP title, overcoming the big-serving South African Kevin Anderson 7-6(1) 3-6 7-6(5) to move up six places to a career high 16th in the World. On his way back into the top 20, Dimitrov passed his fellow finalist Kevin Anderson, who also rose to a career high 18th following his strong display in Mexico.

In Brazil, young Argentinian Federico Delbonis claimed his maiden ATP title with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over the veteran Paolo Lorenzi. Delbonis upset a number of established tour players on route to the final, including Nicolas Almagro, Thomaz Bellucci and Filippo Volandri as he moves up seventeen places to 44th in the World.

Elsewhere in the men's rankings 5th to 7th are separated by just 20 points as a first round retirement meant Juan Martin Del Potro dropped two places to seventh. Both Tomas Berdych and Andy Murray climb one position to overtake him. Despite winning the Dubai title, Roger Federer remains in 8th although he now has a gap of over 1,500 points to Richard Gasguet in 9th.

James Ward claimed valuable rankings points by progressing into the Second Round of the Dubai Championships, enabling him to move up seventeen places to 160th in the World. Elsewhere it was a quiet week for the Brits, as few of the top players played and Laura Robson continues her recovery from a wrist injury sustained at the Australian Open.

The women's tour, unlike the men's, was unusually quiet as most of the top seeds chose to prepare for the upcoming Indian Wells tournament with a week of rest. The Acapulco champion Dominika Cibulkova rose to a career high 11th following her runner-up spot at this year's Australian Open. Beaten Acapulco finalist Christina McHale was this weeks big mover, rising fifteen places to 55th.

The other tournament saw a repeat of January's Hobart final, as Klara Zakopolova clashed once again with youngster Gabrine Muguruza. Muguruza won at Hobart but Zakopolova got her revenge, successfully defeating Muguruza to lift the Florianopolis title, her first WTA title since 2005. Her victory ensures she crept inside the top 30 at 29th whilst Muguruza rose four places to 32nd.

Published on SEaT Capital.