If Nadal lost the French Open, popular opinion was that it would be to Federer/Murray/Djokovic in the final. Falling to the 23rd seed in the 4th round was simply not in the script. Now, everyone will have their explanation ranging from all the extra matches he has played since starting this incredible run about a year ago to the pink shirt (my favorite reason). We saw this happen with Federer and I saw it in a prior generation with Connors, Borg, and McEnroe. Why would Nadal fans expect anything different? Despite his extraordinary mental and physical condition, he is (as the agents from The Matrix would say) human.
Perhaps the best explanation is from Jason Statham from the flick Chaos, which I watched over the weekend. At the end of the movie, he tells the young detective who was his adversary that the detective learned a valuable lesson and it’s good he learned it while he is young.
“You don’t always win.”
The Algorithmist 