Barcelona, April 17 (IANS) Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Barcelona Open after suffering a straight sets defeat against Alex de Minaur, here on Wednesday.
Fourth-seeded de Minaur advanced to the third round after beating Nadal 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 51 minutes long battle.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion subsequently sat out scheduled appearances at the BNP Paribas Open and Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Masters 1000 tournaments he previously won thrice and 11 times, respectively.
Nadal was playing just his second tournament of the year and first since January, when he made the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Brisbane.
Earlier on Tuesday, the 37-year-old was playing his first clay-court match since winning his 14th Roland Garros trophy in 2022 and marked his 475th win on the surface.
–IANS
hs/
