Battling Nadal bemoans 'awful' and 'negative' exit

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal described his performance as "awful" as he crashed out of the Barcelona Open 6-4, 7-6 (6) to Italian Fabio Fognini on Thursday.

Despite losing to world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters last week, Nadal came to the Catalan capital in high spirits after playing the best tennis of his season to date.

However, the eight-time champion was stunned for the second consecutive year in Barcelona as Fognini edged a tight first set before fighting back from a break down three times in the second to seal victory in a tiebreak.