Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios advanced to the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday. Nadal cruised through his opener against Dudi Sela, while Kyrgios had a more difficult time with Denis Istomin in a match that featured only one service break.
(2) Rafael Nadal def. Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal made an emphatic start to his 2018 Wimbledon campaign with a decisive victory over Israel’s Dudi Sela. The Spaniard, who played no tune-up events leading into the Championships, put in commanding performance. Nadal was effective at net, winning 24 of 29 net points.
Sela, who isn’t known for his big serves or power, doesn’t have the kind of game that has traditionally bothered Nadal on grass. And indeed, the 33-year-old Israeli was neutralized from the start. Sela finally managed to break Nadal in the Spaniard’s first service game of the third, set, but Nadal broke back immediately. Sela only managed to win one more game in the match.
Nadal will take on Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round.
(15) Nick Kyrgios def. Denis Istomin 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios pulled out a tight victory over the dangerous Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in 4 entertaining but somewhat strange sets. Neither Istomin nor Kyrgios made much of a dent on the other’s serve until the Australian snagged the only service break of the match early in the fourth set.
So lopsided were the service games, that the two men played four tight sets consisting of 48 games in just over two hours and 30 minutes. For his part, Kyrgios smacked 42 aces, while Istomin only recorded six.
Kyrgios meets Dutchman Robin Haase in round two.
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congrats
I’m sure the Haase match will be a barnstormer.
Agreed.
I think the fact that this year is his 10th anniversary of that unforgetable Wimby 2008 with Roger give Rafa an xtra incentive @ motivation to do well here…The kind of thought like..”hey!..i won here 10 years ago,maybe i can win again this year”Coz that day was very special to him…This kind of thought also can spurned him on & will play with xtra confident no matter whether it’s Nicky or The great Fed that lies ahead waiting for him…I think He just needs something ‘special’ to invoke the ol’ beast in him…And if that Rafa come out to play,i’m not surprised if he win Wimby this year….Hehehehe…i know!i know!…It looks impossible..but,judging from his perfomance yesterday…OH WOW!!…Very possibly!!
Well,i guess we have to wait till next week whether my theory would be right or wrong!Hahahaha….Vamos Rafa!!WHOOOOOHOOOOO!!
Mira I think rafa can repeat his best year that is 2010 by winning both wimby and uso and I have full confidence on him. But I think he can never repeat his hard court dominance he showed in 2013. He unleashed the beast in him on hard courts. Only problem is his serve. A better serve will help him preserve his body better. What are your takes on it and other rafans
And yeah the main thing VAMOS RAFA
I thought Rafa served relatively well, an improvement over his clay court season. I really thought Rafa was trying to protect his hip by not pushing hard when he served during the clay season. He knew he needed to last the full clay season without injury, and on clay, he could survive without a good serve, just had to fight harder.
I feel Rafa is relieved after winning the FO, and now he knows good serving is essential on grass and so he’s not holding back when serving. He also adjusted his return position and is closer to the baseline when returning serves. Maybe he needs more time to get used to that, and he’s not happy with his ROS and said there’s room for improvement.
I like the way he approached the net so often, both he and Sela made 66 attempts at the net, that’s very positive for a grass court match, they won about 44 points at the net (Rafa winning 83%) out of 160 points played, ie about 28%, not too low a percentage. If out of 160 points played, 66 were done at the net, then it’s about 41%, about right for a modern day grass court match I feel.
I watched Djoko’s match too and in that match they approached the net much less; Sandgren wasn’t playing well at all on grass (I heard he didn’t even played a warm up event on grass!) and so it’s mainly played from the baseline.
I feel Sela played better than Sandgren on grass so it’s a good test for a first round match for Rafa.
Rafa rules…Yeah..i agree with u that Rafa very possibly can’t repeat his 2013 HC dominance anymore..he maybe will win 1 or 2 HC[including slam] in a season…But that’s it…Sadly,his battered body won’t allow him to do that anymore…
About his serve,like Lucky said..he’s served better yesterday…Sooo confident..And coupled with his body language i knew he’s going to win in straights…I don’t know about anyone else,but for me to see whether Rafa is confident or not,i just have to see his serve & of coz body language too when he went on court…
I think yesterday with that confidence,even if he were to meet with Roger or any power players,he has a chance to win…I’m so excited to see whether he can past last 16 this year…C’mon Rafa!!…Whoooo!!
MA,
I agree with you. Even the tennis channel commies thought that Rafa seemed relaxed, confident and playing well in his first match.
He did serve better and that’s a good sign. I think Rafa has to feel good after getting his 11th RG title. That was most important to him. But I think he really wants to do well here and get a good result.
It’s unfortunate that many have forgotten how good Rafa can be on grass. He had knee problems that contributed to early exits for a few years. Then done tough luck running into big servers in early rounds. Rafa has to know that he got a good draw for the early rounds this time. I hope he can capitalize on it and show the doubters that he’s still got it on grass.
Jim Courier was doing commentary for the tennis channel during Rafa’s first match, seems to still have doubts about his chances here. Brad Gilbert picked Rafa to win it. Rafa is a two time champion and a five time finalist. He is healthy and looking good right now.
Vamos Rafa!
Hey Nny!…How r u?Hope you’re okay over there Nny!…
Ermm…about Rafa…Nick Bollettieri said,Rafa brings his own inimitable style to grass court & will rival Roger at Wimby…So,heh heh..i guess we just have to see his progress in the next 2 weeks…Hopefully he will break that invisible wall & make it to the final this year…Oh Nny!…i got 3 articles for u to read!Hehehe….Hope u still didn’t read it anywhere yet!!
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Rafael_Nadal/57209/rafael-nadal-how-it-all-began/
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/hLyUeC7QLtj3tHvj2vRvwI/Why-Rafael-Nadals-mentor-Toni-remains-a-calming-influence.html
This too Nny!…Hehehe…U should go to Wimby & cook for your darling Nny!Now,he had to do it himself!!Hahaha…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-5916777/Rafael-Nadal-picks-groceries-Wimbledon-win.html
MA,
My sister texted me this picture of Rafa going food shopping. Isn’t it cute? He cooks too! Probably better than me.
😍
MA,
I liked what was said about channeling anger and making it work for you. Also, all of the little things that Rafa does with his water bottles and rituals. Borg did that, too. It keeps the mind clear. People try to make fun of these things Rafa does, but it is very important. They mentioned Kyrgios. He is a perfect example of a player who cannot control his anger or emotions on the court. It is holding him back.
I thought that was an important thing to point out.
😀
Hahahaha…yeah Nny!…Veryyyy cute!!…Yeah,he loves cooking…We thought he got money & want to find the best restaurant & food every single time right?But not with Rafa…I guess no one can cook pasta as delicious as he can!Hahaha….
About his tick tack on court…Yeah,for some his behaviour is unacceptable..and they criticized him…But for some who understand,he only did it just to organize things so they ‘stay in line’ and he can ‘centers himself’…And by the success he had so far by doing those things,i’ll say..”Keep on doing it Rafa”!…Even tho my eyes always suffered everytime he fix his balls & pick his b@#$!!Hahaha….Oh WTH!!
Yeah lucky you are right about his serve but it needs to improve. The going for the broke attitude of nadal on his serve is resulting in double faults which cant be afforded. Sela is a good grass court player but mental lapses make afraid. Nadal has to get used to the new ros position and try to hit return winners. I dont after all these years nadal still cannot buy an ace or a cheap point. He has improved most things like backhand but serve has not changed that much but yeah it is more effective than 2005 but not good enough. I know it is easy to sit in ac eooma and comment but I am a fan after all and want him to win.
Rafa had his big serve in 2010 but that didn’t work for him long term due to shoulder issues. Rafa has a good enough serve though not a big one, he wins with varieties rather than by pace (I mean his serve). His serve was great in 2013 too but after his injuries in 2014 and lacking in confidence in 2015, it seemed to me he’s not pushing hard enough to get his serve working better with a bit more pace. However, he had improved his second serve last year and that had helped him won his FO and USO.
It’s unfortunate that he got injured again at end of 2017 and beginning of 2018, hence his serve suffered again.
Federer doesn’t have a big serve either,but no such excuses, he’s been incredibly effective with it over the years .
Al, it was amazing watching the placement Fed had on his serve today. I don’t think he hit one above 120 something, but it was just amazing. He was also hitting the second serve with what looked to me to be more kick than usual, into the far corner. Really hard to handle for a righty with a two handed BH.
He can even serve aces on those slower serves.Its a very underated part of his game.
Absolutely. The slow kicker wide to the ad court really gave Nadal problems last year, so it can trouble lefties as well.
Yes, Federer has a great serve, one of the best spot serves in the history of tennis imo. It rarely lets him down, the Halle final TB notwithstanding. Everyone knows that. Why exactly are you basking in it on a Nadal thread? His match has its own thread.
Strokes of Genius Federer/Nadal is on BBC 2 at 6.20 pm this Sunday.
Rafa and Roger will be looking back at the match, describing their emotions throughout the 2008 Wimbledon Final.
Wish I had BBC 2. I enjoyed that match so much that I bought both the match DVD and the Wertheim book.
Well, I thought the movie was OK, but you’d do better to watch your DVD again! It’s my all time favorite match, for sure. The one that made even John McEnroe stfu!
Apparently you can order it on AppleTV.
Spoiler: the match has a happy ending.
Rafa has made five grass slam finals, the same number of clay slam finals that Federer has made despite turning pro years before Rafa. Rafa won two of those finals, one against Federer, whereas Federer just has the one conversion and hasn’t come close to beating Rafa at RG.
In slams obviously.
So what? Everyone knows Nadal is only better than Federer on clay
HC slams: Fed 11, Nadal 4
Grass slams: Fed 8, Nadal 2
WTF indoor: Fed 6, Nadal 0
HC masters: Fed 22, Nadal 8
Clay slams: Nadal 11, Fed 1
Clay masters: Nadal 24, Fed 5
Pretty much says it all.
Not according to Jeff Sackmann and an increasing number of appears analysts like recently in earn and tennis players both past and present most recently Sharapova.
If any player is goat, it’s rafa in an ever increasing number of people.
Federer is the weak field goat. Couldn’t defend a slam for 10 years on any surface.
Test
Goat