Rafael Nadal debut at Wimbledon in 2003 when he was 17 years old. Now with 36 he continues playing and has converted this Monday in the third oldest player in the top eight of the tournament in the Open Era. He joins a club where they were only Roger Federer y Ken Rosewall.
Nadal, who has left behind his discomfort in his left foot, is going from less to more on the grass. Today he stepped forward to defeat for the second time a Botic Van de Zandschulp por 6-4, 6-2 y 7-6(6).
Nadal’s hunger to win this Wimbledon is summed up in this hoot… and this celebration!
The Dutchman, who had already been a victim of the Balearic in the third round of Roland Garros, He went back to kneel on a surface that is more suited to his playing characteristics.
Being in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon after three years makes me very happy.
However, Rafa closed the door on him from the tenth game. The manager, who left 6 hours and 35 minutes in the first two rounds, wanted to preserve his body and save energy for the final stretch. He starts on Wednesday with the American Taylor Fritz, his executioner in the final of the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and who comes with the confidence of the title on the pitch at Eastbourne. He has swayed his last eight commitments on grass in his favor.
Tennis players with the most appearances in the Wimbledon quarters (Open Era)
Roger Federer 18
Jimmy Connors 14
Novak Djokovic 13
Boris Becker 11
Andy Murray 10
John McEnroe 9
Pete Sampras 9
Rafael Nadal 8
Bjrn Borg 8
Tim Henman 8
The champion of 22 Grands, without being a specialist on the green carpet, has been in the quarterfinals in his last three appearances in the British tournament,
He is not leading any of the significant statistics of the tournament, but he remains in the fight for the final crown, which would allow him to be the sixth player capable of being crowned in the first three majors on the calendar.
On a sunny day at Wimbledon, and with a higher ball bounce because the grass is worn after a week of competition, Rafa had a hard time scoring the first set.
Van de Zandschulp fired missiles at almost 200 kilometers per hour to allow him to be in the match. Equality was broken from 4-4. Nadal would then chain five games to take a comfortable lead in scoring. In between, an unsuccessful break option from your opponent.
Botic promised them very happy when he started the third round with a ‘break’. It was returned immediately afterwards. The sentence could come in the sixth act with a Spanish tennis player totally possessed by his good moment of form.
However, Nadal lost serve for the second time at 5-3 when nobody expected it. The outcome had to wait for sudden death. It’s hard to close the Spaniard, who wastes a 6-3 in the ‘tie break’. The game died with an erratic shot from Zandschulp.
