Nadal humbled in Rome

Ferrero: second win over Nadal

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Clay court king Rafael Nadal suffered a shock second round defeat in the Rome Masters, losing 7-5 6-1 to former World number one Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The Spaniard had never previously been beaten in Rome in three previous runs to the title and it was his first defeat on clay since losing the final in Hamburg to Roger Federer last year.

Nadal was suffering with blisters on his right foot and with his movement clearly hampered, he was struggling throughout a one-sided second set.

The key moment in the match arrived at 4-4 in the first set when Nadal opened up a 40-0 lead on Ferrero's serve.

But the 'Mosquito' buzzed back, as Nadal lost four points in a row with forehands that went long.

Nadal saved a set point in the next game, but at 6-5 he was broken for the set when Ferrero found a stunning backhand winner.

Treatment

The French Open champion immediately called for the trainer to look at his foot, and again at the change of ends at 4-1, when he received lengthy treatment.

Nadal had lost his serve at 2-1 and his resolve was clearly faltering, although to be fair to Ferrero there was no let-up in his excellent groundstrokes.

Ferrero had never previously beaten World number two Nadal on clay, but took his overall record against his compatriot to 2-6 and 1-4 on clay.

Nadal later said he had first felt pain in his right foot on Sunday night, following his victory over David Ferrer in the Barcelona Open.

"On Sunday night I couldn't put my foot on the floor. I called my trainer and he gave me something," he said. "Today I didn't play my best tennis and the truth is that I didn't feel very good on court.

"I couldn't plant my legs on the floor with power and every time I was playing the ball short because I couldn't play it long because of this pain. It was tough for me.

"In the morning when I woke up I said it was impossible to play but the doctors put a special protection on my foot and gave me an anaesthetic cream so I wouldn't feel the pain."

Nalbandian out

David Nalbandian was another big name to fall by the wayside, the seventh seed losing against Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-4 7-5.

The Argentine came off worse in a five-break first set and then saved seven match points in two separate games before surrendering his serve at the end of the second.

Fifth seed Ferrer also suffered an upset, the Spaniard losing his way completely after taking the first set against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic to eventually go down 4-6 6-2 6-1.

Meanwhile, Croatia's Ivo Karlovic will now face world number one Roger Federer after beating Italy's Potito Starace 6-3 6-7 7-6.