Rafael Nadal knocked from the Wimbledon warm-up event

London: Rafael Nadal suffered a shock first round exit from the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s Club as the Spanish star was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 by unheralded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday.

Nadal’s dismal defeat against World No.79 Dolgopolov was the latest in a growing list of lacklustre performances in a troubled 2015 campaign for the former World No.1

Lleyton Hewitt suffered a frustrating farewell to Queen’s Club as the four-time champion squandered a match point in a 6-7 (5/7), 5-7, 2-6 defeat against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson late on Monday.

Hewitt is embarking on a prolonged goodbye tour before retiring after next year’s Australian Open and he was hoping for one last hurrah on his final visit to the Wimbledon warm-up event. But the injury-ravaged 34-year-old, making his 16th Queen’s appearance, is ranked 100 places below the big-serving Anderson and he was unable to bridge that class gap in a hard-fought first round clash.

After failing to serve out the match in the second set, Hewitt allowed Anderson to wriggle out of trouble and the world number 17 eventually coasted through to a second round tie against French Open champion Stan Wawrinka or Australian youngster Nick Kyrgios.

“I’ve loved playing here for so many years. It’s one of my favourite tournaments of the year outside of the majors,” Hewitt said. “It was special to come back. Knowing it was going to be the last one, as well. I’ve played so many big matches in front of big crowds here over the years.

“For most of the first two sets I played pretty well out there. I don’t think it will be that emotional the rest of the year. I’m fortunate because not many people in sport get to go out on their terms and so far it looks like I’ll be able to do that,” he added.

Only Boris Becker, John McEnroe and Andy Roddick have won Queen’s as often as Hewitt, who made his debut here as a brash teenager in 1998 and claimed the last of his titles in 2006.

Despite his success in this manicured corner of West London, the most recent of Hewitt’s two Grand Slam titles came way back in 2002 at Wimbledon and he has spent the latter part of his career battling to overcome a series of debilitating injuries, including having a metal plate inserted into the toe of his left foot.