Rafael Nadal suffered a shock first round exit from the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's Club as the Spanish star was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 by unheralded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday.

Nadal's dismal defeat against the world number 79 is the latest in a growing list of lacklustre performances in a troubled 2015 campaign for the former world number one.

The 14-time Grand Slam winner was beaten at the French Open for only the second time in his glittering career when Novak Djokovic won their quarter-final clash in Paris.

As a result, Nadal's ranking has plunged to 10th -- his lowest position for a decade -- and to add insult to injury he will now head to Wimbledon, which gets underway later this month, with renewed questions about a decline that hit another low with this setback in west London.

It was the second time this year Nadal had lost to an opponent outside the top 50 after his January defeat to world number 127 Michael Berrer.