It was all going so well for Rafael Nadal in a grasscourt comeback that looked to have eased the summertime blues that dogged him on his favoured clay – until he ran into an inspired Alexandr Dolgopolov at Queen’s.
In the space of two hours and 13 minutes, the Spaniard’s Wimbledon preparation has had the air taken out of it. The Ukrainian, playing well above his world ranking of 79, simply outplayed the recently demoted world No10 on enough key points to go into the second round on the back of a wholly deserved 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 win in front of a stunned Centre Court audience on a warm, still afternoon.