Spain puts Nadal loss down to bad day at the office

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Robin Soderling of Sweden at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 31, 2009.

MADRID (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal's shock defeat to Robin Soderling at Roland Garros drew widespread sympathy from his supporters back in Spain, who generally put it down to an off day.

The world number one, who was seeking a record fifth consecutive title, crashed to a fourth round 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6 defeat to the Swedish 23rd seed.

Emilio Sanchez Vicario, who captained Spain's Davis Cup team to victory over Argentina last year, watched the game on television from Barcelona.

"Soderling played very well, and that is tennis sometimes," he told Reuters.

"In tennis there are times when one player gets into the game and the other player can't find his rhythm. When Nadal went so far behind in the second tiebreak there was no way back.

"I think he had been having problems with the length of his shots all week and he suffered for this. He couldn't get back into it.

"I don't think it was down to tiredness. He'd won a lot of games recently and was quite fresh."

Spanish former Wimbledon champion Manuel Santana wrote in sports daily AS on Monday: "While I write these lines I feel cold, strange and incredulous."

But he gave a similar prognosis to Sanchez Vicario, saying that Soderling played out of his skin, while Nadal's game deserted him.

Newspapers from Nadal's native Mallorca were forgiving with one of their favorite sons.

Ultima Hora led with "Nadal is human" while Diario de Mallorca had "Nadal's saddest day in Paris" on the front page of their web edition.

In a blog under the story on www.diariodemallorca.es, readers were united in their support, calling for him to come home for a well earned rest among friends.

"Don't worry. For the one you lost you have won many more. You are still number one. You deserve a good rest, enjoy Mallorca and its beaches," one blogger wrote.

(Writing by Mark Elkington, editing by Miles Evans)