By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, January 19, 2016

The sight of Rafael Nadal as a first-week opponent was once so imposing it prompted opponents to ponder travel plans before taking the court.

Times have changed.

Players now launch major flights at the King of Clay's expense.

More: Verdasco Gets His Revenge on Nadal

An ultra-aggressive Fernando Verdasco thumped his forehand with vigor reeling off six straight games to send his sometime doubles partner packing out of the Australian Open, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Verdasco took more risk and reaped the rewards: He hit 90 winners compared to 37 for Nadal.

It was just the second Grand Slam opening-round defeat of Nadal's career. His only other first-round departure came when Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis stunned the King of Clay in his 2013 Wimbledon opener.

The 29-year-old Spaniard sounded philosophical after enduing his third consecutive early exit at a major, but this one has to sting severely.

"I play majors the same way I play other tournaments all the year," said Nadal. "All my life, I have played every tournament by putting all that I have there... I try my best in every single match of the year. That's it. Sometimes you have success; sometimes you do not. Today it is obvious that I didn't.

"He played so aggressive, and the serve was huge for him today. I just (want to) congratulate him because he deserved (to win.)."

What does this loss mean to the rest of Rafa's 2016 season?

Here are our Top 5 Takeaways from Nadal's opening-round ouster in Oz.

1. Finishing Power
The twisting topspin forehand is still strong, but is no longer the fierce finishing shot Rafa unleashed to rule the world. Whether it's a sign of lost confidence, diminished racquet-head speed or the adjustment to Luxilon strings from the Babolat RPM Blast strings he formerly used, Nadal was not consistently stepping up and crunching his forehand with ruthless intent.

After the match, the fifth seed conceded his forehand simply wasn't strong enough to ward off his explosive sometime doubles partner. "In terms of creating damage to the opponent with my forehand, I didn't," Nadal said. "So I was hitting forehands, and he was able to keep hitting winners. Cannot happen when I am hitting my forehand... That was the biggest issue for me today. I don't know a hundred percent the reason, to be honest.

2. Fading Fear Factor
After falling to Verdasco in Miami last March, Nadal admitted to a confidence crisis. The bigger issue he faces now is a fading fear factor among opponents. World No. 102 Dustin Brown bounced Rafa out of the Wimbledon second round, 32nd-ranked Fabio Fognini became the first man in history to rally from a two-set deficit and beat Nadal in a major at the 2015 US Open and Verdasco stepped up at crunch time and battered past Nadal in Melbourne. Part of Nadal's problems closing matches are due to the fact opponents know the new normal: Nadal is now viewed as an opportunity opponent rather than an overwhelming one.

3. Transition Trouble
Productive practices are not translating to winning results. After a solid fall season, Nadal spent some time playing IPTL then went back to work with Uncle Toni. The frustration for Nadal is his recent inability to translate his form from the practice court to the pressures of match play. He knows what he needs to do, but just can't seem to execute in tournament play.

"Today I was not ready to compete the way that I was practicing, so not happy with that," Nadal said.

4. Hard Reality
Nadal has sometimes struggled against flat power players on faster courts—James Blake beat the young Rafa at the US Open, Robin Soderling snapped his Roland Garros winning streak and more recently Lukas Rosol upset Nadal at the 2012 Wimbledon blasting flat drives—but he's figured out solutions in the past. Lately, Nadal is prone to be displaced by power players. The 2009 Australian Open champion has not won a hard-court title since 2014 and despite a solid hard-court run during the fall season, he's too often pushed into defensive positions behind the court waiting for errors that don't come.

"The game is changing a little bit," Nadal said. "Everybody hit the ball hard and try to go for the winners in any position. Game become a little bit more crazy in this aspect.

"But the real thing is my mission is make them play with difficult positions. So if they want to go for lot of winners with very difficult positions, the chance of having success is not very high."

5. Embrace Evolution
Nadal recognizes the evolution of the game, but grimly clings to predictable patterns. His steadfast commitment to the serving pattern wide on the ad side, his tendency to drift well behind the baseline during tense rallies and his stubborn refusal to add a coaching consultant to his camp—like former mentor and former world No. 1 Carlos Moya, who signed on as Milos Raonic's co-coach, all point to predictability. Nadal owns shrewd court sense, but his reluctance to change things up is a contributing factor to his continued Grand Slam struggles.