LONDON — When Steve Darcis, a Belgian whose basic language is French, saw last Friday that he would be playing Rafael Nadal in the first round of Wimbledon, his response was an English vulgarity. Four letters, and that's about as far as it goes. Nadal, a Spaniard, may be echoing Darcis' reaction today, because in this 127th Wimbledon, the world's fifth-ranked player and recent French Open champion already has gone as far as he can go. Nowhere. The 29-year-old Darcis, ranked 135th in men's singles, defeated Nadal, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4, leaving both players stunned — "I surprised myself a little bit, yes," he said — but only one elated. "So of course," said Darcis, "it's one...
↧