‘Rafa slam’ bites dust as Nadal toppled

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – A tearful Rafa Nadal was  stunned 6-4 6-2 6-3 by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the  Australian Open quarter-finals today, wrecking his bid to  hold all four grand slam titles at once.
A leg injury suffered early in the match made the world  number one’s quest to become only the third man, and first since  1969, to achieve the iron man feat almost impossible.
“It’s not easy because Rafa is a gentleman and he played  with injury as we are friendly,” Ferrer, who will play fifth  seed Andy Murray in the semi-final, said in a courtside  interview.
“I played aggressive, I tried to go to the net, but if  Rafael was not injured, I wouldn’t have won in three sets,” he  added after reaching his second grand slam semi-final, and first  since the 2007 U.S. Open when he also knocked out Nadal.
“It’s one big (achievement) for me but it’s not a victory  really. These last two weeks have been unbelievable. I will try  to do my best to win a slam.”
Nadal, the 2009 Melbourne champion, took an early medical  timeout after appearing to tweak his left hamstring, shaking his  head as he trudged off Rod Laver Arena.
The nine-times grand slam champion returned with his thigh  strapped but was clearly in pain, wincing and muttering to his  uncle and coach Toni.
Seventh seed Ferrer, who had lost 11 of his previous 14  meetings with Nadal, including the last seven, showed no mercy,  ripping shots to all corners to keep the pressure on.
A tortured Nadal slumped in his seat with his head in his  hands after another thumping forehand down the line gave Ferrer  a two-set lead.
Moments later, he was choking back tears after Ferrer tore  into a 3-0 lead in the third but he battled like a true champion  to get on the board, even forcing a break point at 4-2 down.
However, Ferrer kept his nerve and closed out the  quarter-final with another big forehand after two hours and 33  minutes.
Nadal exited the year’s first grand slam at the same stage  and in the same manner in 2010, also on Australia Day, retiring  with a knee injury against Britain’s Murray.