Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal says he's in “best form” despite defeat

Rafael Nadal says he is pleased with his form this year, despite suffering a surprising early exit at Wimbledon to Lukas Rosol, ranked 100th in the ATP system. 1-time Grand Slam winner Nadal lost 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the second round to Rosol. Nadal, aged 26, had arrived into the tournament with full confidence after winning his seventh French Open title. He said, after the shocking defeat: "You win, you lose. The last four months were probably the best of my career. I just played an inspired opponent." After Rosol had taken a 2-1 lead, Nadal seemed to have brought things back under his control when he won the fourth set to take the contest to a decisive fifth set. But he dropped that set after a delay while the centre court roof was closed. "For sure the interruption wasn't the best thing for me but that's what it was and I accept it," Nadal added. "I accept that he came back and played unbelievable in the fifth. I was playing well in the fourth set and sure the stop didn't help me, but that's the sport." Nadal's exit was his earliest at a major tournament since he was beaten at the same stage of Wimbledon in 2005 by Gilles Muller from Luxembourg. Here is his full Wimbledon track record so far: 2003 - Knocked out in third round by Paradorn Srichaphan 2005 - Knocked out in second round by Gilles Muller 2006 - Lost to Roger Federer in the final 2007 - Loses again in the final to Roger Federer 2008 - Beats Roger Federer to win first Wimbledon title 2010 - Defeats Tomas Berdych in the final for a second title 2011 - Loses to Novak Djokovic in the final 2012 - Out in the second round following defeat to Lukas Rosol Rafael Nadal will return to Wimbledon next month to bid for a gold medal at London 2012, and he says he needs a bit of a rest before that. "I feel very well mentally but physically I need to rest," he said. "I played for the last six months almost every match possible in the tournaments that I played, so physically I need to stop a little bit."