Rafael Nadal puts in his ‘worst ever performance on clay’ in defeat to Fabio Fognini

Rafael Nadal says his Monte-Carlo Masters semi-final defeat to Fabio Fognini may be his worst performance on clay of his career.

The Spaniard fell to a shock 6-4, 6-2 defeat, and was even just one game away from suffering a bagel.

Following the defeat, Nadal offered few excuses, simply accepting that, on balance, the better man on the day won.

“I played a very bad game against a good player, so in that situation, you have to lose. That’s what I did this afternoon,” said Nadal.

“Was a tough day and was a difficult opponent.

“I am coming from low moments in terms of injuries, and in terms of the mental side have been not easy to accept all the things that have been going on during the last times.

“So just was this kind of day that everything was wrong.

“I probably played one of the worst matches on clay in 14 years. So when that happens, you have to lose.

“And today I deserve to lose because I played against a player that was better than me today.”

Fognini will now face Dusan Lajovic in the final after he added Daniil Medvedev to his Dominic Thiem scalp this week in the other semi-final.

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