Rafael Nadal made a stuttering however rousing return to the grass on Tuesday, beating Forty first-ranked Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4 in Wimbledon’s first spherical to start his marketing campaign for a 3rd Grand Slam title of the 12 months.
The 36-year-old second seed, who has not performed at Wimbledon since 2019 and stayed away from warm-up tournaments with a persistent foot downside, motoring by way of the match till a collection of unforced errors allowed Cerundolo again in. “It is not a surface that we play very often, especially in my case in the last three years I didn’t put any foot on the grass,” Nadal instructed the Centre Court crowd.
“Every day is a test and I am at the beginning of the tournament and the difficult circumstances (under which) I arrived here.”
Delightfully deft from @RafaelNadal 👌#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/3xYB2mRh6M
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2022
Nadal received the primary set after uncharacteristically coming into the web and forcing Cerundolo to hit a forehand broad. Somewhat skip and a fist pump and the Spaniard was on his means.
He received the second set after breaking serve within the sixth recreation and serving out to like.
But the 23-year-old Cerundolo, who broke into the highest 100 solely in February, upped the tempo within the third set and located the strains along with his booming forehand to place the twice Wimbledon champion on the again foot.
Up and operating at #Wimbledon 2022 🇪🇸@RafaelNadal overcomes a stern Centre Court check from Francisco Cerundolo#CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/qt6b7t9bCF
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2022
Nadal, who has additionally received 20 different Grand Slam titles, regarded drained within the face of the onslaught, dropping the set beneath stress with a backhand into the web. He then dropped his serve within the fourth as Cerundolo’s confidence and power elevated.
But Nadal, who received the Australian Open in January and the French Open earlier this month, is nothing if not a fighter. He regrouped and used all his expertise to battle again.
Cheered on by a packed Centre Court he broke the serve of his now nervous opponent twice to seal the match and arrange a second-round tie with Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.
“Three years without being here … it is amazing to be back and I can’t thank (people) enough for the support,” stated Nadal.
