Firstly, he reported no further twinges after Thursday's injury scare. Secondly, he will have a few extra days to re-charge his batteries back home in the Mallorcan sunshine before returning next week to Wimbledon's practice courts.

And thirdly, he will get to spend a little more time in front of the television watching Spain in the World Cup.

"World Cup always. World Cup always," the 24-year-old, whose uncle Miguel Angel Nadal played for Barcelona and Spain, told reporters after his 7-6 6-4 defeat by Lopez in the quarter-finals at the grasscourt tournament.

"I was watching the start of the first match in the locker room. I can't see today France against Uruguay because maybe I'm on the plane, but I'm going to be always watching the football because it's my favorite sport.

"I think I'm gonna enjoy a little bit. See all the family, see my friends and maybe play some golf too."

Nadal, whose last previous defeat was on April 2 against Andy Roddick in Miami, is due some time off.

An incredible burst of form on European claycourts culminated in a fifth Roland Garros title on Sunday and his return to number one in the world rankings.

While he would have preferred a couple more matches on Queen's Club's lush lawns, he did manage two victories and, against the big-serving left-hander Lopez, he also felt his grasscourt game returning.

"I think I played some very good tennis, very good forehands," Nadal said after his first defeat against another Spaniard since 2008 when he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in Rome.

"I played much better than the previous days with my forehand. That's a very positive thing. But in the tiebreak I lost three points from the baseline when he was serving second serve. You can't do that if you are a better player than that from the baseline."
 

During his three-set win over Denis Istomin on Thursday, Nadal needed treatment on a muscle in his backside but said he was happy with his fitness on Friday.

"It seems like it's nothing very important, so that's the very positive thing," Nadal, who missed last year's Wimbledon championships with a knee injury, said. "It is still there, but it is not a big problem."

Nadal's defeat meant all the top six seeds have fallen here with only Nadal, the 2008 Wimbledon champion, out of those reaching the quarter-finals.

It highlighted the dangers of grasscourt play for the top players, especially with such little time to prepare for the low, skiddy bounces which are alien to most players these days.

"We need more weeks between Roland Garros and Wimbledon but I don't know we are gonna find the weeks," Nadal said when asked about the transition to the game's fastest surface.

"When you've played a very good clay season, it's crazy to only have two weeks to play and to practise on grass."

Eighth seed Lopez, who has a surprisingly poor record at Queen's despite his attacking game, still predicted that Nadal would be firing on all cylinders come Wimbledon.

"I think he's one of the favorites to win Wimbledon of course," Lopez, who plays Mardy Fish in the semi-finals, said. "He didn't play last year, but the year before he won, so I would say Roger (Federer) and Rafa, they are the favorites to win that tournament."