6/22/2013

Rafa #Nadal glad to be back on grass


Rafael Nadal was all smiles as he insisted he loved playing on grass despite being handed the toughest of draws when Wimbledon begins on Monday.
If Nadal is to win a third Wimbledon title he will be required, if everything goes to plan, to beat Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, Andy Murray in the semis and world number one Novak Djokovic in the final.

But when the Spaniard planted his feet on a grass court for the first time in competitive action in almost 12 months on Friday he appeared out to prove the All England Club were wrong to hand him a number five seeding, a decision which Murray's former coach Brad Gilbert has called a "100 per cent joke".

Nadal promptly resumed winning ways with a tight 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/4) victory against Japan's Kei Nishikori in the exhibition BNP Paribas Tennis Classic at London's Hurlingham Club.

And immediately after his only Wimbledon warm-up the man who once did not care for grass said: "It is always a pleasure to play on grass. I always love it. I'm happy to be back playing here. It's a very nice atmosphere.''

Nadal, who faces Belgium's Steve Darcis in the Wimbledon first round on Monday, was playing his first match since lifting the French Open title on the red clay at Roland Garros for a record eighth time 12 days ago.

He had withdrawn from the Halle grass tournament following Roland Garros to take a rest at his home in Mallorca.

Not surprisingly there were a few flakes of rust, considering his last match on the surface ended in a shock second round Wimbledon defeat last year to Lukas Rosol, a player who was then ranked 100th in the world.

But Nadal, who missed the US Open and Australian Open during a seven-month lay-off with a knee injury, looked relaxed and in fine physical form against Nishikori, who is at a career-high of 11 in the ATP world rankings.

Nadal was swiftly into his stride, breaking Nishikori's serve in the first game.

But Nishikori, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last year and who had lost narrowly to Murray on the same Hurlingham court on Thursday, immediately broke back in a hard-fought first set which yielded four breaks of serve and some patchy tennis before Nadal showed his tenacious spirit to take the tie-break 7-3.

Nadal, with a bandage protecting the site of the partially torn patella tendon in his left knee, looked more comfortable in the second set, finding a more penetrating length on his groundstrokes and pressurising his opponent with a series of trademark ripping forehands.

Even so the set went to another tie-break but, with the thunderclouds gathering, Nadal summoned all his determination to wrap up the match. The hard stuff starts on Monday but if this initial run-out in the sun at Hurlingham is anything to go by the two-time Wimbledon champion is raring to go on the grass of SW19.

Nishikori certainly thought so.

"He's playing very well,'' said Nishikori. "And he's just won the French Open so I was very happy to play him.''

Photo : Rafa #Nadal glad to be back on grass


Rafael Nadal was all smiles as he insisted he loved playing on grass despite being handed the toughest of draws when Wimbledon begins on Monday.
If Nadal is to win a third Wimbledon title he will be required, if everything goes to plan, to beat Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, Andy Murray in the semis and world number one Novak Djokovic in the final.

But when the Spaniard planted his feet on a grass court for the first time in competitive action in almost 12 months on Friday he appeared out to prove the All England Club were wrong to hand him a number five seeding, a decision which Murray's former coach Brad Gilbert has called a "100 per cent joke".

Nadal promptly resumed winning ways with a tight 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/4) victory against Japan's Kei Nishikori in the exhibition BNP Paribas Tennis Classic at London's Hurlingham Club.

And immediately after his only Wimbledon warm-up the man who once did not care for grass said: "It is always a pleasure to play on grass. I always love it. I'm happy to be back playing here. It's a very nice atmosphere.''

Nadal, who faces Belgium's Steve Darcis in the Wimbledon first round on Monday, was playing his first match since lifting the French Open title on the red clay at Roland Garros for a record eighth time 12 days ago.

He had withdrawn from the Halle grass tournament following Roland Garros to take a rest at his home in Mallorca.

Not surprisingly there were a few flakes of rust, considering his last match on the surface ended in a shock second round Wimbledon defeat last year to Lukas Rosol, a player who was then ranked 100th in the world.

But Nadal, who missed the US Open and Australian Open during a seven-month lay-off with a knee injury, looked relaxed and in fine physical form against Nishikori, who is at a career-high of 11 in the ATP world rankings.

Nadal was swiftly into his stride, breaking Nishikori's serve in the first game.

But Nishikori, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last year and who had lost narrowly to Murray on the same Hurlingham court on Thursday, immediately broke back in a hard-fought first set which yielded four breaks of serve and some patchy tennis before Nadal showed his tenacious spirit to take the tie-break 7-3.

Nadal, with a bandage protecting the site of the partially torn patella tendon in his left knee, looked more comfortable in the second set, finding a more penetrating length on his groundstrokes and pressurising his opponent with a series of trademark ripping forehands.

Even so the set went to another tie-break but, with the thunderclouds gathering, Nadal summoned all his determination to wrap up the match. The hard stuff starts on Monday but if this initial run-out in the sun at Hurlingham is anything to go by the two-time Wimbledon champion is raring to go on the grass of SW19.

Nishikori certainly thought so.

"He's playing very well,'' said Nishikori. "And he's just won the French Open so I was very happy to play him.''

source: http://www.sportinglife.com/ 
 source: http://www.sportinglife.com/

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