<p>Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Australian Open first round after a five-set thriller against Fernando Verdasco Tuesday, increasing fears about his ability to add to his 14 Grand Slam titles.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In only his second first-round loss at a major tournament, the oft-injured 29-year-old fought for four hours, 41 minutes before the inspired Verdasco won 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.<br /><br />It was one of the worst ever Grand Slam performances for Nadal, who also lost in the 2013 Wimbledon first round and has not won a major title since the 2014 French Open.<br /><br />"It's tough, but at the same time, I know I did everything that I can to be ready for it," Nadal said. "Was not my day. Let's keep going. That's the only thing.<br /><br />"There is no more thing to do than keep practising hard, keep practising the same way that I was doing the last four, five months."<br /><br />Nadal can at least take heart that the Australian Open has historically been his toughest Grand Slam tournament, with his only win coming against Roger Federer in 2009.<br /><br />That year, he fought off Verdasco in another five-set epic which clocked in at five hours, 14 minutes -- the second longest match in tournament history -- in the semi-finals.<br /><br />But the following year, he limped out of his 2010 quarter-final with Andy Murray during the third set with a knee injury.<br /><br />In 2011, Nadal was troubled by a thigh injury as he went down in straight sets in the quarter-finals to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.<br /><br />Three years later Nadal was hit by a back problem when he lost to Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in the final and last year he was bounced out by Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the quarters.<br /><br />On Tuesday, Verdasco looked headed for the exit when he trailed 0-2 early in the fifth set, only to reel off six straight games to snatch only his third victory in 17 encounters with Nadal.<br /><br />Verdasco, the world number 45, was on fire with his thumping forehand, hitting 41 forehand winners among a total of 90 outright winners.<br /><br />His all-or-nothing approach was shown by his 91 unforced errors as he trailed Nadal by two sets to one in an awesome hitting display on Rod Laver Arena.<br /><br />"I think today's match was kind of like very similar in terms of the (2009) semi, going to a fifth set," Verdasco said.<br /><br />"Of course at the beginning of the fifth I was thinking about that semi-final. I didn't want to lose and after that break, I started playing really good, hitting very hard serve, forehand, and not making many mistakes.<br /><br />"So I was very happy with the way that I finished the match."<br />Verdasco broke Nadal's serve five times, while losing his service on six occasions in the battle of the left-handers.<br /><br />His reward is a second round clash with Israel's Dudi Sela.</p>
<p>Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Australian Open first round after a five-set thriller against Fernando Verdasco Tuesday, increasing fears about his ability to add to his 14 Grand Slam titles.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In only his second first-round loss at a major tournament, the oft-injured 29-year-old fought for four hours, 41 minutes before the inspired Verdasco won 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.<br /><br />It was one of the worst ever Grand Slam performances for Nadal, who also lost in the 2013 Wimbledon first round and has not won a major title since the 2014 French Open.<br /><br />"It's tough, but at the same time, I know I did everything that I can to be ready for it," Nadal said. "Was not my day. Let's keep going. That's the only thing.<br /><br />"There is no more thing to do than keep practising hard, keep practising the same way that I was doing the last four, five months."<br /><br />Nadal can at least take heart that the Australian Open has historically been his toughest Grand Slam tournament, with his only win coming against Roger Federer in 2009.<br /><br />That year, he fought off Verdasco in another five-set epic which clocked in at five hours, 14 minutes -- the second longest match in tournament history -- in the semi-finals.<br /><br />But the following year, he limped out of his 2010 quarter-final with Andy Murray during the third set with a knee injury.<br /><br />In 2011, Nadal was troubled by a thigh injury as he went down in straight sets in the quarter-finals to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.<br /><br />Three years later Nadal was hit by a back problem when he lost to Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in the final and last year he was bounced out by Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the quarters.<br /><br />On Tuesday, Verdasco looked headed for the exit when he trailed 0-2 early in the fifth set, only to reel off six straight games to snatch only his third victory in 17 encounters with Nadal.<br /><br />Verdasco, the world number 45, was on fire with his thumping forehand, hitting 41 forehand winners among a total of 90 outright winners.<br /><br />His all-or-nothing approach was shown by his 91 unforced errors as he trailed Nadal by two sets to one in an awesome hitting display on Rod Laver Arena.<br /><br />"I think today's match was kind of like very similar in terms of the (2009) semi, going to a fifth set," Verdasco said.<br /><br />"Of course at the beginning of the fifth I was thinking about that semi-final. I didn't want to lose and after that break, I started playing really good, hitting very hard serve, forehand, and not making many mistakes.<br /><br />"So I was very happy with the way that I finished the match."<br />Verdasco broke Nadal's serve five times, while losing his service on six occasions in the battle of the left-handers.<br /><br />His reward is a second round clash with Israel's Dudi Sela.</p>