Rafael Nadal's crown as the undisputed king of clay was given another wrench as he went down to a second shock defeat in the brown dirt season, this time at the Barcelona Open.
The world No 1 was upset 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 by world No 20 Nicolas Almagro, coming the week after he given a nasty surprise in the quarter finals of Monte Carlo, another tournament he has dominated with imperious ease since he was a teenager.
Downbeat: Rafael Nadal suffered another shock defeat against Nicolas Almagro in Barcelona
Nadal's last eight defeat in Barcelona represented the first time he had lost there since 2003 as a 16 year-old, his winning streak in the Catalan capital spanning the last 41 matches played.
After his loss at the same stage a week ago to David Ferrer in Monaco it raises further questions about his ability to win the French Open yet again, and puts the hegemony of the Big Four in men's tennis in a further state of flux.
Novak Djokovic is currently nursing a wrist injury but he will gain some encouragement from this result, as will Stanislas Wawrinka, who followed up his Australian Open win by taking the title last Sunday.
Delight: Nicolas Almagro celebrates beating fellow-Spaniard Rafael Nadal in Barcelona
Nadal, upset in Melbourne by the Swiss, has not regained his poise or confidence since, and this was his fifth loss of 2014. Neither Ferrer nor the talented but sometimes mentally brittle Alamgro are exactly mugs - and Roland Garros is still more than four weeks away - but it will set some alarm bells ringing.
An example of his lack of conviction came when he had break point to get back level for 5-5 in the decider and sent the most simple putaway forehand crashing into the net with the court wide open. He only converted five of eighteen break points.
When the defeat was completed after two hours and 47 minutes it was only the second time in 68 matches he had lost on red clay to his fellow Spaniards, again giving the impression that this is the most open clay court season in years.
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