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Tuesday, 11 March 2014

Nadal, Sharapova Make Shock Exit At Indian Wells

Game over: Rafael Nadal waves to fans after losing to Alexandr Dolgopolovn Indian Wells


Defending champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova both crashed out on a day of shocks at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Sharapova was upset by Camila Giorgi while Nadal fell 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7/5) to Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.


Nadal had struggled past Radek Stepanek in his first match and was a long way from his best against in-form 28th seed Dolgopolov.

He looked to have saved the day when he first recovered from a set down and then broke his opponent when he served for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set.

Nadal led 4-2 in the tie-break but simply could not find his range and Dolgopolov took his first match point despite seeing what he thought was an ace overturned by HawkEye.

The Ukrainian powered away a forehand instead to set up a fourth-round meeting with Italian Fabio Fognini, who saved two match points on his way to victory over Gael Monfils.

Nadal admitted after beating Stepanek that the back injury that hampered him in the Australian Open final had taken away his confidence on serve, but speaking after losing to Dolgopolov, he said: 'I played bad. That's all.

"I'm disappointed with the way I played. But that happens sometimes. I did all that I had to do to be in good shape.

"I worked very hard for the last week. After Rio I had a few days off to recover the back. Then I think I worked great, and with good feeling. But since I started the competition here I didn't find the right feelings.

"I saved a tough situation the first day. Today I was close to saving another one. But at the end, when you are on the limit, these things happen.

"You can lose. I lost today. I congratulate him. He played I think better than me. That's it. Life continues. I'm going to keep working hard to try to be ready for Miami."

Nadal beat Dolgopolov in the final of the inaugural Rio Open last month, but the Ukrainian got his revenge on the world number one in the Californian desert.

"I feel great, as after every win, of course.

"I beat the defending champion and the number one in the world," said Dolgopolov, whose next opponent is Fabio Fognini.

The second shock of the day also sees fellow defending champion in the Female singles Maria Sharapova losing to 22 year old Italian qualifier, Camila Giorgi 6-3 4-6 7-5.

Sharapova  was woeful in the game as she failed to hold serve at all in the first set at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

"I did not play a good match at all," said Sharapova, who dropped serve eight times and committed 58 unforced errors.

"I've never played against her, but she’s someone that doesn't give you much rhythm.

"She's quite aggressive, but some shots she hits incredible for a long period of time.

"Sometimes they go off a bit. But, if I'm speaking about my level, it was nowhere near where it should have been."

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