Another stunning upset shocked the crowd as relatively unknown player Ivan Dodig slammed his very past Rafael Nadal to proceed in the Rogers Cup.
Nadal fell after a shocking final score of 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in the second round on Wednesday night. The Croatian player, ranked no. 41 in the world, secured his victory with a powerful backhand that caught Nadal by surprise.
The players were tied 5-5 in the final set, but Dodig came out with a 135 miles per hour ace before following out with the winning shot.
“This is the greatest moment of my life,” the winner said.
The match was delayed for almost two hours due to rain, but fans have to see what they waited for with both players giving out a variety of powerful shots in the evenly-matched game that seemed to surprise Nadal. The Spanish champion started easy, coming out with an answer for Dodig’s shots, but the Croatian managed to finish with 19 aces. His large and powerful serves saved him although Nadal still had the lead at 5-3 in the eight game. The Croatian gave himself a match point in the tiebreaker with his 19th ace before pulling the finishing shot.
“He played very well, very aggressive,” Nadal said. “He did not feel the pressure in the important moments. At the end of the match, probably I was a little bit unlucky today, no?”
Dodig will face Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic in the next round.