It has been many years since Wimbledon has witnessed Rafael Nadal prowling the baseline so confidently – those narrow eyes glaring across the net as if his opponent just dared to insult his mother, that laser-like focus matched only by the staggering accuracy of his groundstrokes. But the Spaniard, who is seeded four this year, has every reason to be confident judging by his enthralling and ultimately emphatic 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Donald Young.
Before the match pictures had circulated on social media of Nadal struggling to use a self-service checkout machine while buying a six-pack of Diet Coke in Wimbledon village. But, despite appearances to the contrary in recent years, he still knows his way around a grass court as he showed by booking a place in the third round, where he will play the powerful young Russian Karen Khachanov, the 30th seed.
“I think I am doing the right things,” said Nadal. “I feel myself playing well. Now I have tough opponent in Khachanov. It’s going to be a tough match. He’s a great player in all aspects; good serve, good forehand, good backhand, a lot of power.
“He has a great future,” added the Spaniard, with a smile. “But hopefully not after tomorrow.” It is remarkable that Nadal, who missed Wimbledon last year with a wrist injury, has not made the last eight since 2011, when he was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic. Or that, incredibly, it is now nearly a decade since that final memorabilis against Federer in 2008, when he won his first title, and eight years since his last championship here, claimed by defeating Tomas Berdych.
Since then the Spaniard has endured far too many early exits. But Wimbledon has always been a tournament of two distinct halves for him. In the first week, when the grass is greasy and the ball skids low, he is there to be shot at. But in the second week, when the courts harden like concrete, he becomes a live danger. Everyone knows that when Nadal goes deep at Wimbledon, he usually goes very deep. On the six occasions he has reached the second week, he has won twice and finished runner-up on three occasions.
“I don’t know how deep I can go on the draw or not, but I really don’t think about that now,” he said. “But if I keep playing the same level that I did the first six months of the season, then I hope to have my chances to be in a very high position of the ranking.”
Nadal had won both his previous matches against Young in straight sets, but he knew that the American would be no slouch on grass, particularly given he had reached the quarter-finals of Queen’s Club and Eastbourne last month, and so it proved. The world No2 made his intentions clear in the first game as he broke Young’s serve, and then powered to the first set without conceding a break point.
Early on his play was not always perfect – sometimes the ball would bounce a little lower than the Spaniard expected, and his forehand would shank over the baseline. Yet most of the time when he coiled his wrist the racket lashed through and the ball fizzed away for another winner and he was rarely threatened as he won the first set 6-4.
The second set started the same way as the first, with Nadal breaking immediately to 30. But then, for the first time in the match, he found himself under pressure at 0-30 on serve. The response was striking. First came a blistering backhand winner as Young approached the net. Then a vicious top-spinning second serve brought an easy point. Then the daintiest of drop volleys completed the recovery.
Young was not playing badly, mind, and he pushed Nadal in several games, but by now he was racing through the gears and a violent forehand put him 3-1 ahead. Another break pretty much sealed the set – although he still had to save a break point at 5-2 up, which he did by serving and volleying.
The American started the third set by holding serve and getting the scoreboard ticking but he knew that he needed to sustain his flashes of brilliance to pose a sustained challenge. That was exactly what he did – and the first six games of the third set were the best of the match. However, while Young stepped up his intensity so did Nadal and at 3-3 in the third set he finally got the break that looked to have ended the American’s resistance. But when serving for the match at 5-4, Young was inspired by the crowd and a rare Nadal double fault and broke back to make it 5-5. Yet in fading light, Nadal immediately broke back – and then applied the coup de grace to win an enthralling match in straight sets.
Could he really be a contender after so many years on the margins? Boris Becker certainly thinks so. “Nadal hasn’t shown up for a while, but from what I have seen so far he looks strong, he looks healthy, he looks hungry,” the former Wimbledon champion claimed. “And if he gets into the second week, no one will want to play him. He is the ultimate competitor.”
Nadal knows he will become world No1 again for the first time since June 2014 if he can reach the final. Whisper it softly, but he might even win it.
