Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal with difficulty in the second round
Grand Slam record champion Rafael Nadal started the Wimbledon tournament 22 days after his triumph at the French Open with a difficult four-set victory.
by SID
last edit: Jun 28, 2022, 08:14 pm
The Spaniard, whose chronic foot problems appear to have been alleviated somewhat by therapy, needed 3:33 hours to beat Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo 6:4, 6:3, 3:6, 6:4. It was Nadal's 306th win in one of the four biggest tennis tournaments in the world.
The 36-year-old thus moved to fourth place in the all-time list behind leaders Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic. Sports history is at stake for Nadal: After his titles in Melbourne and Paris, he is still in the race for the calendar Grand Slam, which Rod Laver (Australia) last achieved in 1969.
Against Cerundolo (23) Nadal had to work harder than expected after the first two sets. He fell behind with a break in the fourth round before turning around the game that seemed to be slipping away and shouting his relief. The 22-time major champion will have to improve, on Thursday he meets Ricardas Berankis from Lithuania.
"Respect to Fran, he was a really tough opponent," said Nadal: "I haven't set foot on a grass pitch for three years for various reasons. Victory is the most important thing today, it gives me the opportunity to train again tomorrow ."
SkyWimbledon2022Article
Nadal: Wimbledon winner 2008 and 2010
Nadal's last of his two Wimbledon victories was twelve years ago, since then he has only made it to the final once (2011) and suffered some surprising defeats: against the former German Davis Cup player Dustin Brown, Steve Darcis from Belgium or Gilles Muller from Luxembourg . Wimbledon was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and Nadal had skipped the grass season last year.
This time he's fighting for his chance - despite foot pain caused by Müller-Weiss Syndrome, a rare and degenerative disease that affects the bones in the feet. The "pulsed radio frequency stimulation" that Nadal underwent after Paris alleviated the suffering. He could walk "normally" most days, he said before the tournament started.
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