That’s all I could say after Rafa Nadal fell to fellow Spaniard and friend David Ferrer 4-6, 2-6, 3-6 in their quarterfinals match in the Australian Open.
The setback slammed the door for “Rafa Slam” that, we fans of Rafa, were expecting. Before this debacle, Rafa was playing brilliant tennis.
Rafa won the last seven matches against Ferrer but this time the latter was just too good for Rafa.
Ferrer played a perfect game. Even Nadal gives it to his friend, “…I really couldn't do more than what I did. He played at a very high level, and I wasn't able to compete against him tonight."
Nadal was visibly affected by his left thigh, which limited his lateral movement inside the court. But he refused to blame his loss to his injury. Later, he revealed in an interview that he had a muscle tear on that left thigh.
Nadal and his fans have to wait another year for his grand slam – holding four titles (Australian, Italian, Wimbledon and US Open crowns) – in a year. The last player to accomplish such feat was Australian legend Rod Laver in 1969.
Now all eyes will be on Roger Federer who will play Novak Djokovic in a semifinals match today. Federer leads their head-to-head match-up 13-6 but Djokovic beat Federer in 2008 en route to the title. If Federer gets past Djokovic, I’m putting my money on him to win his 17th grand slam title.
Meanwhile, Jeson Patrombon, one of our better junior tennisters, reached the Boys’ Singles quarterfinals after downing Australia’s Andrew Whittington 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 in the third round. He faces fourth seed George Morgan of the UK.
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