For nearly the entirety of his two-decade career, Rafael Nadal has been a picture of calm on the court. Nobody has endured as many moments of abject tension in the final rounds of the biggest tournaments but navigated them while betraying so few negative emotions, shrugging off mistakes and despair, remaining steadfastly positive.
But on Thursday night for once his emotions were written all over his face. As he limped and grimaced, barely able to run during his loss to Denis Shapovalov, he continually looked up at his team in the stands. He shook his head, he cursed his bad luck and he spent time at the change of ends with his head buried in his hands.
