The 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner was far from in top form with 6: 4, 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 4 against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. Top favorite Iga Swiatek, on the other hand, cleared her first hurdle without any major problems. The world number one from Poland defeated the Croatian qualifier Jana Fett 6:0,6:3.
As for Swiatek, it was Nadal’s first appearance after the French Open title three weeks ago. The spectators experienced a moment of shock at the beginning of the third set when the Spaniard slipped and fell. Nadal was uninjured, but had problems with the outsider’s whipping forehand. Although he was ahead with a break, the 36-year-old gave up the third set and was also behind in the fourth. After a tough 3:33 hours, he was allowed to celebrate in the end.
A test every day
“I’m very happy to be back here,” said Nadal after his first game at Wimbledon since 2019. “It’s not a surface that we play often. I haven’t set foot on grass for the last three years, so everyone is Day a test. And today it was a very important one.” Nadal has won both previous Grand Slam tournaments of the season in Melbourne and Paris. Before Wimbledon, he had reported that his chronic pain in his left foot had been relieved with special therapy.
Swiatek was only unfocused at the start of the second set when she was 3-1 down and had to fend off five break points from Fett. “I lost my focus a bit and she used it well,” said the 21-year-old. After that, she didn’t give up any more games and landed her 36th singles match win in a row. Including the French Open, Swiatek has recently won six tournaments in a row. However, she has never reached a WTA final on grass.
“Knew it would be difficult”
“It was my first game of the season on grass, so I knew it would be a little difficult,” said the Pole. “I’m pretty happy how I came back, but I’m still figuring out how to play here.” Her next opponent is Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove from the Netherlands. Ex-winner Simona Halep and numbers four and five of the tournament, Paula Badosa from Spain and Maria Sakkari from Greece, also advanced in two sets.
Like the two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova against the Italian Jasmine Paolini, the young US star Cori Gauff fought successfully against the Romanian Elena Ruse after falling behind in a set. The 18-year-old French Open finalist won 2: 6.6: 3.7: 5, but also seemed irritated by Nick Kyrgios’ loud antics on the nearest court. The Australian defeated the British wild card man Paul Jubb in five sets, but shot a ball out of the stadium in a rage at referees, officials and spectators.
Source: Nachrichten
