Nadal, playing in just his seventh tournament of the year after another campaign disrupted by injuries, admitted that at 38 he did not “have the legs of 20 years ago”.
The Spaniard, a gold medallist at the Olympics in singles in 2008 and doubles at Rio eight years later, won the last of his 22 Grand Slam titles when he captured a 14th French Open in Paris in 2022.
His ranking, which once stood proudly at number one, has slumped to 161 in the world.
In May, he suffered his first ever opening-round loss at the French Open and then skipped Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics.
“For many people it makes little sense, I have been suffering for two years,” added Nadal who described Monday’s loss as “tough”.
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