Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal stunned by Belgian Steve Darcis

Rafael Nadal went out of a grand slam in the opening round for the first time in his career as his Wimbledon agony continued against Steve Darcis.

The 12-time major champion, fresh from winning a record eighth French Open just two weeks ago, returned to the All England Club hoping to make amends for last year’s second-round exit to Lukas Rosol, but was unable to make amends as he was beaten 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (10/8) 6-4.

That shock loss to Rosol was validated by the seven months he subsequently missed through a recurrence of his long-standing knee injury.

And although Darcis – a Belgian ranked at 135th in the world – played the match of his life, Nadal did seem to be troubled again.