Losing at Barcelona Open nothing in comparison to Tito Vilanova's death, says beaten Nadal

Johannesburg: World No.1 Rafael Nadal has offered his condolences to the grieving family of late former Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova, saying that losing a tennis match is nothing in comparison to the death of Vilanova, who lost his battle with cancer at the age of 45 on Friday.

Top seed Nadal, the eight-time champion, lost 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to compatriot Nicolas Almagro in a quarter-final lasting almost three hours at the Barcelona Open, ending his 41-match winning run in the Spanish city.

However, Sport24 reports that despite the defeat, the Spaniard, who was last defeated in Barcelona when he was just 15 years old, refused to panic with the defence of his French Open crown starting in just a month's time, saying that losing a match is 'not a drama' and is nothing in comparison to Vilanova's death.

Stating that he was better in parts of the match, Nadal also said that winning and losing is a part of the game, and offered his congratulations to the sixth-seeded Almagro for winning his first match against Nadal in 11 meetings, a series which included a straight sets loss in the 2013 Barcelona final.

The report mentioned that Nadal, who could lose his world number one ranking with Novak Djokovic set to pounce, will next defend his Madrid and Rome Masters claycourt titles- two of the 10 tournaments he won in 2013 after a seven-month injury lay-off, the report added.