Rafael Nadal: Surprising Loss in Madrid Open Won't Hurt Nadal in Long Run

Rafael Nadal may have been stunned by his third-round loss to Fernando Verdasco in the Madrid Open, but in the grand scheme of things, it's meaningless. He lost a fluke match in fluky conditions.

Most likely, if the Madrid Open had been played on a traditional clay court, Nadal would've been fine. Or so he'd like to believe.

Much has been made of the outlandish blue courts that debuted in Madrid this week, which are supposed to enhance court visibility but instead seem to be functioning as more of a marketing gimmick to increase tournament visibility. Nadal certainly gave the courts their due, as he spent the entire week leading up to the tournament complaining about them, before ultimately blaming them for his loss.

After Verdasco beat him 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, Nadal told CNN: 

"

I never was in control of the match, I didn't know how to win a point. Movement is very important for me and I couldn't move. I couldn't hit ball the way I wanted. I lost because I deserved to lose. 

"

Earlier in the week, Nadal told CNN he couldn't describe the clay surface except to say that "it's really tough to play like this on a center court" and it's "impossible to move" on it. Obviously, there was something out of the ordinary at play here that resulted in the world No. 2 completely losing his composure and dropping a match to a player he had previously defeated 13-of-13 times.

From a PR standpoint, could Nadal have handled himself better the week prior? Sure. He could have done a better job of keeping his emotions in check. But the playing surface in any sport shouldn't be hindering athletes' abilities. When a baseball field is wet and slippery, the tarp goes on and the players go to the clubhouse. In basketball, the second a droplet of sweat falls on the court, the whistles blow and the mops come out. 

Nadal threatened to boycott the tournament next year if the traditional red clay surface isn't resurrected, and rightfully so. Why compromise his record and his legacy for a silly blue court?

Nadal may have admitted that he deserved to lose on Thursday, but it won't happen again. A six-time French Open champion, a winner of eight titles and someone who is virtually unbeatable on clay surfaces won't often lose to the 19th-ranked player in the world.

When one of the greatest tennis players in the world is so hindered by an inconsequential scenery change that it compromises his ability to win, something obviously needs to change.

If Rafael Nadal can't play on the nifty blue courts, something's wrong.