Nadal's fall from grace

Rafa Nadal was heading back to the drawing board on Tuesday after another startling early loss at a Grand Slam deflated his early-season optimism and left him questioning his strategy.

The Spaniard arrived in Melbourne for the start of the Australian Open talking of his 'happy feelings' after a strong run at the end of last year and a positive opening to 2016 following a rigorous pre-season fitness camp.

But any hope that Nadal, who turns 30 this year, can revive the glory days when he ruled tennis were blown away in the first round by compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who roared to a 7-6(6) 4-6 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 triumph.

Nadal has suffered some crushing early defeats since he won the last of his 14 grand slam titles at the French Open in 2014 -- Dustin Brown (at Wimbledon) and Fabio Fognini (U.S. Open), but in those he lacked form and fitness.

Against Verdasco, a player he had beaten 14 times in 16 meetings, the physical ailments that have dogged his stellar career were not apparent, his game just looked stale.

"The game is changing a little bit," the world number five told reporters after only his second career loss in the opening round of a grand slam tournament.

"Everybody now tries to hit all the balls. There are no balls that you can prepare the point. The game has become a little bit more crazy in this aspect.

"I was practicing a little bit different, trying to be more aggressive. I can play defensive or offensive. But if you stay in the middle, then I am dead."

At his peak Nadal, coached throughout his career by his uncle Toni, wore down opponents with an attritional baseline game before finishing them off with clinical winners.

These days, with wear and tear dulling his lightning speed, his game looks vulnerable against lower-ranked players prepared to attack him -- as Verdasco did to devastating effect.

As Toni watched on in the final games, Nadal seemed powerless to stem the tide.

"You cannot be in the middle of being offensive or defensive, because it is obvious that finally you don't have a consistent strategy, then you are lost," Nadal said.

The Mallorca native can only hope that he can respond to his first-round defeat like he did when losing to Belgium's Steve Darcis in the opening round at Wimbledon in 2013.

Then, Nadal rebounded to win the U.S. Open a few weeks later, rolled into the following year by reaching the Australian Open final and went on to claim his ninth French Open title.

NADAL'S DECLINE

2014
JANUARY: Against Wawrinka in the Australian Open final, Nadal suffered a back injury when he was down 2–0 in the second set, and although he won a set, he lost the match in four sets.
AUGUST: Nadal withdraws from the US Open with a wrist problem, raising fresh fears about his health after several battles with injury.
NOVEMBER: After defeating Novak Djokovic in the French Open final in June, Nadal undergoes surgery to remove his appendix in Barcelona which sees him miss the rest of the season.

2015
JANUARY: On his return to Grand Slam tennis, Nadal loses in the Australian Open quarter-finals 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) to Tomas Berdych
FEBRUARY: In the Rio Open, Nadal suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Fabio Fognini in the semifinals.
JUNE: Novak Djokovic ends the king of clay's six-year French Open unbeaten streak in the quarter-finals, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Afterwards, Nadal's ranking drops to 10th, his lowest in more than a decade, and just a year after he was world number one
JULY: Concerns grow as Nadal exits Wimbledon in the second round to 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown, 30
SEPTEMBER: Nadal throws away a two-set lead to exit the US Open third round against Fabio Fognini, leaving him without a Grand Slam title for the first season since 2004
DECEMBER: After his chastening season, Nadal admits he's not sure he'll ever win a Grand Slam title again. "I don't know if that's going to happen," he tells reporters in New Delhi.

2016
JANUARY: Loses in five sets to fellow Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open, in only his second loss in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament