Really sad for the Nadal camp. It's not that he's just losing; Rafa is losing to his pigeons and turkeys.
And Almagro, though he played well at times, gave Nadal every chance to win. First in the second set, at 3-3, Nadal had at least 3 chances to break and Almagro somehow survived 4 deuces, and then wins the tiebreaker. Then Nadal up a break at 3-1 in the final set, collapses on his serve and doesn't win another game on serve. It seems he has a difficult time consolidating his breaks lately.
So passive on his serve, and he just looked a beaten man, instead of his usual fighter self.
What's next? Madrid is no haven for Nadal. But a good performance is needed somewhere. Rome is absolutely vital now for a turnaround.
But I'm starting to lean toward him not getting it done at Roland Garros if he plays anything like this. He wouldn't deserve it.
It's as bad a collapse on his play on clay as I've seen from Nadal. This is not Djokovic, or Federer, or even Wawrinka, this is Almagro, who had won a total of 2 sets and 0 matches in 10 tries before today.
It's starting to remind me of Federer's 2013 year.
Respectfully,
masterclass