It is not often this can be said, but Rafael Nadal has suffered two consecutive losses. However surely this cannot be a time to panic for the Spaniard as he builds up to the US Open.
The world number two was on court for the first time since being defeated by Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and, despite taking the first set emphatically, ended up losing 1-6 7-6 7-6. Anyone looking to bet on Andy Murray will wonder if he can take advantage of Nadal's seeming weakness.
Nadal was simply overpowered by his Croatian opponent Ivan Dodig in the second round, which is something that is very rarely hear throughout the tennis world.
It is certainly not the best start for the Spaniard to his hard court campaign but it is no time for the defending US Open champion to start to panic. Those following the US Open 2011 odds should bear this in mind.
If you look at the facts, Nadal had only a week of practice before arriving in Montreal after having to rest the foot that he injured at Wimbledon and that lack of time on court showed as he fell off physically.
What could worry Nadal is the fact he will not be able to get any more match play this week – as he was also knocked out the doubles – and that leaves only one tournament, in Cincinnati, to get back on form before the US Open starts.
It seems like his foot injury has healed, as Nadal reported no problems in that area, but he could be struggling psychologically and will need a big performance in the next tournament in Cincinnati to give him a boost ahead of defending his title at Flushing Meadow.
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