Rafael Nadal was overjoyed to have won against Francisco Cerundolo at Wimbledon’s first-round after just a few weeks ago he was on crutches due to his foot injury.
Nadal was put to work on Centre Court on Tuesday, defeating Cerundolo 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4 in three hours and 33 minutes. The 23-year-old Argentine had chances to score in both sets, but Nadal broke in the 10th game to win the first and 4-2 in the second.
Cerundolo was scorned and slipped during a break in the third set, but he recovered and bounced back before having to serve out the set on the third attempt.
After a forehand winner tightened the baseline, the rookie got another break in the fourth. Nadal, the 36-year-old veteran, fought back to 4-4 and gasped in surprise when Cerundolo drifted wide on match point to end a long rally contest.
Nadal was on the verge of retirement due to a chronic foot injury, but he has since won the Australian and French Opens. Following his victory at Roland Garros earlier this month, the Spaniard underwent radio-wave therapy on a nerve in his left foot, which could put an end to his professional career. The operation appears to have gone well. But the former world No. 1 refused to blame his injury,
“We cannot be talking about my foot every single day. If not, we forget the most important thing: that is tennis,” Nadal said.
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The 14-time French Open champion claimed that his lack of grass action would always make things difficult at SW19.
“Grass is not a surface we play very often and especially in my case, for different reasons, the last three years I didn’t put a foot on the grass,” Nadal continued.
Nadal remained calm during his match against Cerundolo. In fact, instead of viewing the competition as a hurdle, Nadal viewed with his first-round match against the young Argentinian as a parameter of his fitness for Wimbledon this year.
“It always takes a while – this has been my first match and every day is a test and today has been one of those important tests,” Nadal said
The 22-time major champion is determined to keep winning so that he can continue until the final stage. At his age, he is more concerned with winning the trophy and that will be his primary objective.
“At the beginning of the tournament, especially under the circumstances that I arrived here, the victory is the most important thing because that gives me the chance to practice tomorrow again and to have another match in two days, and I’m happy for that, without a doubt.” Nadal explained.
Nadal’s ties with Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is a retired American tennis player with the longest career in the sport’s history. Navratilova’s accomplishments in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles propelled the sport to previously uncharted heights.
She is now regarded as an excellent role model for any ambitious young player. Nadal’s victory equaled Martina Navratilova’s career record of 306 grand slam victories in the singles titles, including 54 at Wimbledon, by defeating Francisco Cerundolo.
Nadal and Navratilova share the fourth-most Major singles titles in the Open Era. If Nadal beats Ricardas Berankis in the next round, he will be solely in fourth place on the all-time list. However, Nadal still has a long way to go before catching up to the three players ahead of him in the rankings: Roger Federer (369 wins), Serena Williams (365 wins), and Novak Djokovic (328 wins).
While Federer will not be competing at Wimbledon this year, Djokovic began his quest for a fourth consecutive title on Monday with a four-set win over the 24-year-old South Korean Kwon Soon-woo.