Wimbledon R2 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Kukushkin, Kyrgios vs. Haase

July 4, 2018 Ricky Match previews 217

No. 2 seed and two-time champion Rafael Nadal will be back in Wimbledon action when he goes up against Mikhail Kukushkin on Thursday. Nick Kyrgios and Robin Haase are also aiming for a place in the last 32.

Mikhail Kukushkin vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Nadal and Kukushkin will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time at Wimbledon when they meet again in the second round on Thursday. All three of their previous encounters have gone Nadal’s way, he is 7-1 in total sets, and he has breadsticked Kukushkin on a whopping five occasions. The two veterans most recently faced each other at this same event four years ago, when Nadal prevailed 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Almost no one has been competitive with the Spaniard of late, although that can obviously be chalked up at least somewhat to the fact that the clay-court season just came and went–with Nadal capturing titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, and at the French Open. The world No. 1 maintained his fine form in his first official grass-court match of the season, hammering Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday. Kukushkin advanced by beating Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, improving to 4-1 in main-draw matches on grass in 2018. The 77th-ranked Kazakh defeated Alex De Minaur, David Ferrer, and Kyle Edmund in Eastbourne before succumbing to eventual champion Mischa Zverev in the semifinals. Kukushkin is a capable competitor on this surface, but–as his past woes in this matchup suggest–he does not wield enough power to hit Nadal off any kind of court.

Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 8-10 games

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(15) Nick Kyrgios vs. Robin Haase

Kyrgios and Haase took similar routes to the Wimbledon second round at the expense of dangerous grass-court players. In a somewhat expected serving duel with Denis Istomin, Kyrgios pocketed the only break of the entire day midway through the fourth set and got the job done 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3. Haase held off Marius Copil 7-6(0), 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4). The result is their second-ever showdown on Thursday, with Kyrgios having won their only previous contest 6-3, 6-4 on the red clay of Estoril in 2015.

On the opposite side of the draw from Roger Federer and Marin Cilic, Kyrgios is a trendy pick to reach the final–and he just may do it if he can remain healthy. Returns on grass are so far encouraging, as he missed the clay-court swing but got right back in gear to reach semifinals in Stuttgart (lost to Federer in a third-set tiebreaker) and Queen’s Club (lost to Cilic in two tiebreakers). Haase played all three weeks in the buildup to Wimbledon and made second-round exits on all three occasions (to Bernard Tomic in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, to Roberto Bautista Agut in Halle, and to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Halle). Another round-two ouster is likely in the cards, because Kyrgios’ serve should be too big in the pressure moments and Haase is not as skilled in tiebreakers as his result against Copil suggests.

Pick: Kyrgios in 3

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217 Comments on Wimbledon R2 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Kukushkin, Kyrgios vs. Haase

  1. I hope Rafa doesn’t just stay at the baseline to rally all day. I hope he plays like in his first match, ie approaches the net often and shortens points.

    I notice in both the men’s and women’s matches, players are playing baseline games like it’s on other surfaces; I think not many players feel comfortable coming forward to the net, unless they’re used to playing in doubles matches, or they’re the older batch of players who have played during the S&V era, like Feli or Ivo.

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  4. Play is suspended, rain forecast for today and tomorrow. May cool things down for awhile, but forecast is for scorching heat afterwards.

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  6. Kukushkin is playing well enough and goes OK on Nadal’s weakest surface.
    Kyrgios has played a lot of tough matches the past 2 weeks.
    He is due for a bad one and Haase is due for a good.

    Nick Kyrgios Denis Istomin 7-6 7-6 6-7 7-6
    Marin Cilic Nick Kyrgios 7-6(3) 7-6(4)
    Nick Kyrgios Feliciano Lopez 7-6(5) 7-6(3)
    Nick Kyrgios Kyle Edmund 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 6-3
    Nick Kyrgios Andy Murray 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5

    Roger Federer Nick Kyrgios 6-7(2) 6-2 7-6(5)
    Nick Kyrgios Feliciano Lopez 6-4 3-6 6-3
    Nick Kyrgios Maximilian Marterer 6-4 4-6 6-3

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  11. Maybe Rafa get a little nervous amy…Kukushkin applied a ‘go for broke tennis’ atm…He’s unsettled Rafa & maybe will take a while for him to righted the wrong…

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  13. Rafa’s serve having problem again. I don’t understand why he serves so well in his second service game and then back to poor serving again.

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  31. Wow! Cilic is ourt! I woke up to see the end of his match! Did not see that one coming! Good news for Fed!

    What is up with Rafa? Up two sets and now down a break. Come on Rafa!

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    • That’s crazy! I am glad for Roger’s draw but I really do feel for Cilic. This is his time of the year, as evidenced by his win at Queens. For him to be destroying Pella in the first two sets then have a rain delay, come back, and lose the lead in the second round of Wimbledon is not only shocking but quite a sad blow for Marin. Surely the win of Pella’s life though!! Congratss to Guido and commiserations to Cilic.

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      • I think Cilic fell yesterday when the rain came, I heard. I think he got injured hence the poor play today.

        Of course Pella may be playing very well today, dont get to see the match as watching Rafa.

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      • Cilic was really nervous in that 5th set. Still his main enemy is mental dimension… Sorry for him, glad for Pella. He stayed unbelievably strong. Reminded ne of Cechinatto at RG against Djoko.
        Rafa – Kuku is a boring game, but I’m surr Rafa doesn’t mind. He’s given the impression that he’s on court for a good warm-up today.

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    • Rafa is slow to cover his FH corner these days, he has to do something to correct that, if not his FH will be under attack all the time.

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  36. Thats Rafa’s own fault, why the whole world must wait for him?

    His team should help train him to be quicker!

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  39. Just hope that This Rafa does not turn up against Fed anytime soon. Rafa’s game is a disgrace on Wimbledon for last 5 years and its not the big servers he struggles against.

    Djokovic is much more comfortable on grass

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    • Kukushkin hits very flat and the ball bounced very low (Rafa said during the interview after the match).

      Like I said earlier, players hitting hard and flat are difficult to play against as their balls will bounce very low compared to balls hit with spins.

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  40. It’s very humid in London today!
    We know rafa doesn’t like humidity! That’s what he said to bernardes about the tv warnings!

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  43. Kukuskhin hits hard and flat, this kind of players can trouble anyone with their shots come witb precision. Its no wonder he’s hitting so many winners and Rafa has a hard time dealing with him. Moreover, Rafa hasnt served all that well to start with.

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    • Yes, I know . But Edmund is no top player. Kukushkin lost to M.Zverev who could not win a set in his first round. And the player who beat Zverev has lost his second round today.

      This is Kukushkin’s 8th Wimby appearence and he has not won 5 matches in all. If that makes Kukushkin a very tall order, then Rafa needs to pick his game up in next few rounds.

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  48. Well done Rafa, wins in straight sets 🙂
    About the time violation when serving, I can only discern that he must have disrupted Kukushkin’s serve somehow.

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  49. Are you guys maybe overreacting a bit? He’s about to win in straight sets, 4-3-4!

    He struggled much more than this in the early rounds at US Open, and wound up winning the damn thing! For the second round of Wimbledon with no warm-up event, I think he’s looking just fine and will get progressively better as the tournament goes on.

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    • The match ended by the time I finished that comment. Just to clarify, I’m referring to the people who were freaking out thinking Rafa is playing poorly.

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      • He did lose his serve twice, which can be dangerous at Wimbly, although there seem to have been more breaks than usual this year? I’m just going by what I saw of the warm up tournies where virtually every set ended in a tb and I usually fell asleep before they got there.

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    • Kevin,

      I agree with you! We should keep in mind that Rafa comes in having not played any warm up tournament. I think he’s looking pretty good considering he only had two exho matches.

      It’s bad enough to read that his game is a disgrace on grass. He played great last year in losing to Muller, who had to play the match of his life to win.

      Every win will make Rafa feel more confident. It’s okay if he struggles a bit, but still closes it out in straight sets.

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      • And I agree with YOU, NNY! Anyone who tries to claim that Rafa is some sort of a disgrace on grass now, or is in any way awful, that have no idea what they’re talking about… Sure, he’s unquestionably not as good on grass as he was earlier in his career. But let’s not pretend like he’s a total non-factor. He could have made the semis or further last year, but he lost a 5-set heartbreaker to an ultra-inspired Muller who has the type of game that can hurt Rafa on a faster/lower bouncing court.

        I don’t care how long it’s been since Rafa made noise at Wimbledon- he will ALWAYS be a contender at all 4 majors as long as he’s still at or near the top of the game. And the same goes for Federer and Djokovic. As long as they’re playing well and are under 40 years old, they will always have at least a shot at winning any of the 4 majors.

        These guys are just that great and compete that well, that no matter which major it is, they will always be a factor as long as they are capable of competing at the top. It a very small, exclusive group of players who have been able to dominate at the majors at such a high level, and 3 of them are still active now. 🙂

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      • Yeah, but he needs to improve his serve, ASAP!!! Thats no lie! He wont win if he doesn’t, maybe not even go past the quarters!!! At least he will pick up a few points if he gets to quarters!!

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  50. Wow finally in straight sets! Certainly not an easy match, Kukushkin plays well and I’m glad Rafa wins in straight sets.

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  54. I dont think Kukushkin played well to be honest. Had he played well this scoreline was more than fine. Rafa losing his serve twice and giving multiple looks is a problem.

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    • He’ll improve on that, the most important thing is to win and in straight sets, that’ll help him conserve some energy.

      The grass is slippery at this early stage. I saw Cilic slipped and fell yesterday, Djoko in the previous day and Rafa had a slip in this match. They have to be careful not to get injured.

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      • I agree about Rafa getting better. The goal is to win and get through the first week. He doesn’t need to be at his best now. Hopefully he can play himself into really good form. He’s got the draw to do it and get through the first week.

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  55. Agreed he would improve. The worrying part is serve. And now Fed’s draw is wide open, I dont think Fed is going to lose a set before finals.

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      • Good one. Do you know any world number 1 in history who lost to no names in 5 out of 6 Grand Slam tourneys he participated to no-names. 4 of them were outside top 100.

        I’d love to be contradicted here.

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        • Since you ask, check out Pete Sampras’ record at RG the last several years of his career. I didn’t bother to look up the names he lost to, but he can’t have been losing to big names in 2nd and 3rd rounds, given he was very highly ranked at the time.

          And in my book, skipping a major when healthy is somewhat worse than losing in the 1st round.

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          • Fed is skipping major at 35+ . Thanks for bringing up the the second worst example of Fed whose record of consecutive major appearances just got broken now if I am not wrong.

            Even if Sampras did lose to no-names(although thewere never 4 no-names outside 100), he considered an awful clay-courter. Rafa’s losses to Darcis, Rosol and Brown in such a short span and against those players who never have a top-10 win in any of the majors meant his performances were well below par.

    • Fed’s open draw is definitely really good in terms of him trying be as fresh as possible going into the Final. However, it could potentially be a negative for him if he gets to Final having faced no true threats, and then suddenly faces a more battle-tested big gun like Rafa, Djokovic, Del Po, or Kyrgios.

      Sure, whoever comes out of the bottom half would have preferred that Fed have to go through a 5-set epic in the semis against Cilic, and be less fresh for the Final. But they will at least now know that Fed will be less prepared for them in the Final.

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      • Any top player would be rather fresh than tested before finals. The top guys are so good that if the other opponent is slightly weary or little off, that make sure they take that extra edge.

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        • Yeah, I agree with you, Fedexal- Federer at his age would unquestionably take being as fresh as possible in the Final despite any potential risk of being unprepared for a top player. If he makes the Final, he is half a decade or more older than whoever he faces in it. In terms of physicality, a 5+ year difference in age might not make as much of a difference when he’s 31 and the others are 26 or younger. But when he’s 37 and the others are 32 and under, that’s a significant difference… So he’s gonna want to be as fresh as humanly possible!

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      • But there’s Raonic who’s serving from a tree! I think Raonic played better than Cilic here, at least more consistent.

        Strange thing is, those who won the grass warm up events are not doing well here – Mischa, Coric and now Cilic. I dont understand why.

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      • I just have a strange feeling Federer is not winning this this year! Something just makes me feel this way, dont know what it is!

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  56. I find matches in Rafa’s half of the draw looking very interesting. Besides Rafa and Djoko, there’re Delpo and Sasha, Kyrgios, Nishikori, Tsisitpas and Shapo. There’s no shortage of good matches though can’t see all of them; just following live scores for most of their matches.

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  57. I agree with both Kevin and NNY! People are mostly so harsh on Rafa and his own fans are extremely demanding always asking for perfection from him!
    Rafa played well for the second round match on his least favorite surface! Grass has never been kind to his knees and movement on grass is a challenge for Rafa at his age due to his style of play! One can not expect Rafa to transform into big hittter or S&V dude! That’s not what he is! I was actually very pleased the way he handled Kukuskin today especially woth those humid conditions which Rafa can’t stand!

    Btw, saying Rafa’s game on grass has been a disgrace is totally unfair considering Rafa’s long and physically and emotionally exhausting clay season every year! At least he showed up and played not opting to skip it Rafa might as well have done the same on grass this year and nobody should dare judging him for that after all the injuries he has suffered throughout his career…

    Good job, Rafa! Just keep winning!

    Vamos Champ!

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    • It was so funny to hear R0ger defend his skipping of RG! Smh!! It was best he just admit the obvious!! It was almost a disgrace!!

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  58. To be fair to fedexal July 5, 2018 at 2:24 PM
    He did mean: ‘… for the last five years’ which is kind of true. If not a disgrace at least a major disappointment for him and his fans

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    • Yes, last five years are those that are particularly physically demanding as Rafa isn’t getting any younger you know! And the feature he accomplished to win 11 FOs is pretty amazing, ha? And the one coming at the age of 32! So yeah, pretty damn selfish and irrational of a fan to complain about Rafa on grass! Didn’t hear Fed’s fans complain about Fed skipping the entire clay season! Or for winning just one FO title in his entire career…

      Vamos Rafa!

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      • nats,

        I am with you all the way! Well said! Rafa lost early due to knee injuries. Now he had to contend with playing after winning at RG a d being older. Rafa could have elected to protect his knees and skip Wimbledon like Fed skipped clay. But he has shown up when he was healthy enough to play and I give him all due credit. He is still here playing and working to get a really good result.

        There is nothing disgraceful about either Rafa’s game on grass or him as a player. It’s a very disrespectful thing to say. He had done tough losses, especially last year when he was playing very well. But he is not a quitter!

        Vamos Rafa!

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      • I understand what your sayinging, but in fairness to Federer, he wasn’t skipping majors either when he was Rafa’s age… That’s one thing that I don’t really understand about criticism of Fed for skipping RG (not saying you are Nats)- by age 36, 99.99% of top players are either not playing a full schedule, or aren’t even playing at all anymore! I think that some people think that, just because the other top players who are half a decade or more younger than Fed aren’t skipping tournaments, that means that Fed shouldn’t get to skip tournaments, despite the fact that he’s at an age where most top players are retired.

        I’m not speaking specifically to you, Nats, but I’m surprised by the diehard fans of Rafa and Djokovic who talk as if they are 100% certain that their favorite player won’t be skipping tournaments at Fed’s age, if they’re even still active on tour.

        I just wonder, what will said Rafa/Novak fans who are criticizing Fed say if Rafa/Novak do the same thing in 5 or 6 years? It seems like some people forgot to consider this before getting on Fed for doing what most top players do at that age- IF they’re even still playing at all.

        And as far as those salty Federer/Djokovic fans who try to claim that Rafa is just not a contender at Wimbledon anymore- they just have no idea what they’re talking about… Personally, I can totally see Rafa getting one more Wimbledon title before he retires! Sure, he might need a certain type of draw for it to happen, but so would Federer if he played RG! And Rafa is still great enough across the board that he could actually win Wimbledon WITHOUT a helpful draw! Once he gets deep into anybod the 4 majors, he is immediately a threat to win it all, no matter who remains in the way…

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        • I was not criticizing Fed for skipping RG. He’s old enough and accomplished enough to do what he pleases. Just saying that not playing is a worse result than playing and losing early.

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        • Yeah, but y chose to skip RG? Y not the US Open, He has no won there in years. Im not convinced with his reason for skipping RG! Its BS!!! if he had a great chance of winning he would never skip it, and thats what makes me think he is a sore loser!! Hope he does not win the sportsman of the yr award!!

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          • Monalisa, Fed has said many times that playing on clay is bad for his knees since his injury in 2016. His trainer has strongly advised him not to play on it.

            He is nearly 37, and this is only the second slam he has skipped voluntarily (he was injured in 2016). It’s clear that this year’s decision had nothing to do with Nadal (I am sure last year’s didn’t, either), because when Fed made his decision this year it wasn’t even a sure thing that Rafa was going to be healthy enough to play the clay season.

  59. Can anyone tell how high humidity is today as compared to other days? If its very high, weather forecast is same for next few days, that means its going to be very hot and humid for the rest of the tourney. Courts would play slow in these humid conditions. Players would not like to play long matches as they could get very exhausting.

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  60. They better put Rafa and De Minaur on Centre Court, that match will be awesome. De Minaur has a great all court game and had a huge win over a phenomenal grass courter in Herbert. I love the kid’s energy. I think he will give Rafa a run for his money and surprise some people. Bottom line is that match has fun written all over it 🍿

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      • It’s kind of that same situation actually now that I think about it. 19 year old Aussie who plays well on grass taking on Nadal in the first week. But De Minaur is not nearly as dangerous as Kyrgios imo. He’s dangerous but he doesn’t have the firepower of NK, he is just very solid from the back of the court and gets a lot of balls back. He does hit a flatter ball that suits grass well, but I don’t think he will be able to beat Nadal like Nick did. But I think he will make it interesting for a set or two.

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        • Benny it hasn’t escaped my superstitious mind that rafa lost to kygrios after playing Kukushkin!
          Nick has surely far greater firepower??
          I mean there can’t be two of them?!
          Does he have a big serve?

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          • Totally agree with Benny assessment amy!…De Minaur is good..I like him!…He maybe will give Rafa a stern test in the 1st set…2nd too maybe…But,that bcoz Rafa has never meet him before,therefore as usual Rafa maybe struggle to handle this kid at 1st….But imo,Rafa will give him a precious lessons in the end…

          • Ok thanks mira!!
            So he is no kygrios!!!?? Good!!
            😀😀i am watching Delpo! I love Delpo! Wish he wasn’t in rafa’s quarter!!

          • Hahaha..No!..De Minaur is no Kyrgios amy!…he’s only 5’11” amy!..And his serve also not as dangerous as Nicky…

            About Moya…yeah!…It’s a shame!…But they’re all already have an agreement that in some tourneys Moya will accompany Rafa..and some it will be Roig..

          • Yes Kyrgios has much bigger firepower for sure. And De Minaur has a pretty good serve but nothing too special. Shouldn’t be able to hurt Rafa much with it.

      • Nope, he’s no Kyrgios. I’d watched his match early this year when he reached SF or final in one of the warm up event before the AO. To me he’s someone like that Spanish guy who played Rafa in his first match at Barcelona this year I think, giving Rafa all sorts of troubles even on clay. I can’t remember his name.

        The Aussie boy is a hard hitter and moves well, Rafa will have to be careful and uses all his guile and varieties to give this boy different looks.

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        • I mean he hits hard but not exactly big hitter the likes of Delpo. I think the boy can play well for his age but Rafa can handle a player like him.

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          • Ok that’s good lucky!
            Rafa was driving me mad with all the times Kukushkin hit winners into his forehand corner! Is this normal?

          • Rafa will handle a boy like him in a HEARTBEAT. I mean, I suppose anything is technically possible, but c’mon….

          • Kevin, you are always the optimist as far as Rafa is concerned 😊
            It’s very refreshing and I hope, you are right. Unfortunately I cannot share your optimism as far as Wimby is concerned. If Rafa makes a deep run into the second week he would already exceed my expectations. Rafafans have been hopeful year after year after year now. Especially last year my hopes were high because Rafa played really as well on grass as he hadn’t for years – even against Müller he most certainly didn’t play badly at all. However, this year I’m very skeptical since he doesn’t serve nearly as well as last year. That was already evident at RG. But there it didn’t matter a lot. But you cannot be a serious contender for the Wimby title without a potent serve. If Rafa doesn’t improve drastically, it will sooner or later bite him.
            As always I hope that I’m wrong. Soneone said earlier that Rafa’s game at Wimby is a disgrace. Since he won his first two matches comfortably without losing a set, it can hardly be called a disgrace. But unfortunately Rafa eventually lost fairly early in the last few years even when he was playing relatively well…

  62. So, the winners of Halle, Eastbourne and Queens were sent packing in the first or second round. Kvitova is out, too! Is there even a point anymore in participting in the warm ups?
    The first two rounds have been a carnage. But Cilic out against Pella?? I’m speechless! What happened?? I haven’t seen the match.
    Nobody left now who could challenge Fed on his way into the final. I don’t see Raonic doing it. He has been slumping for so long now.
    Gil Müller is out, too, btw. Against a fellow thirtysomething aging journeyman, lol!

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  63. Why isn’t Moya with Rafa? I’m not saying it’s good or bad. But I’d like to know the reason. Is Roig the better advisor on grass courts?

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    • Moya originally signed on with Rafa as a part time travelling coach and part time teaching coach at the RN Academy. He left Raonic because he wanted more time with his wife and 3 young kids. Moya was with Rafa for the AO and the entire Euro clay court season so it’s Roig’s turn now. 🙂 Roig usually travels with Rafa for the 2 NA summer hard court masters. I assume Moya will be with Rafa for the USO if not before, but we’ll have to wait and see.

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      • Ramara, it makes sense that Moya isn’t with Rafa all the time. But as his main coach I would’ve expected that he is always with Rafa at the slams! Again, I don’t know if it even matters if Roig or Moya is with Rafa at Wimby. But without more info I surprises me, that Moya isn’t there. That’s all.

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  65. A few interesting results today: Shapo is out – but Tsitsipas is through to the third round! Surprising. The young guy makes big strides! And Gulbis of all people won another five setter and is in the third round. He seems to be slowly getting his game somewhat together again after years of early disappointments. His attitude has always been heavily criticised. But to be fair – he has been injured a lot, too. Stringing together a few wins at the slams would be a nice change for him and give him some breathing space since his ranking will go up a bit.

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    • I’m not surprised about Tsisitpas making it through to R3, he has the game to play on grass (on clay too).

      Shapo faced a tough opponent in Paire, who had a MP vs Fed at Halle if I’m not wrong. Shapo is too going for broke I feel, so his game is high risk, even though with his big serve and net rushing tendency, he has the game that suits the grass surface.

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      • Yes, Paire is no slouch on grass!
        Watching Tsitsipas executing a successful Becker dive was inspiring☺This guy has the right attitude.

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        • Joel Drucker wrote a very nice article about the Tsitsipas-Donaldson match over at tennis.com. Well worth reading!

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          • Yeah, I’ve read that, a bit of exaggeration here and there I feel but nice when it’s about my new fave from the next gen.

  66. Looks like an upset could be brewing in that Fritz/Zverev match. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Mr. Masters 1000 lost early at a slam again 😂

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    • Benny, it’s far too early to suspect an upset in the making. It’s a fairly even match and it may not finish today…

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    • Hasn’t Rafa had dissonances in the past with Carlos Bernardes? They don’t seem to be exactly each other’s favorite person. Hasn’t Rafa even requested to get a break from Bernardes for a while?
      I don’t have a strong opinion one way or another about the time violation call during the match – but calling a time violation even before the match properly started seems to be a tad excessive.

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      • Watch the video Nadline 10 so kindly linked for us. Rafa mentions the incident – he’d taken a bathroom break to change and put his shorts on backward. He got out to the court before realizing it and asked Bernardes to let him go back and fix his “wardrobe malfunction”. Bernardes refused – Rafa did a very neat job of wrapping a big towel around his lower portions and fixed his shorts without indecency. But he was really angry about it and told the umpire he’d ask for someone else to call his matches, which is a player’s right. Eventually the ban wore off or was called off and Bernardes has officiated at Rafa’s matches again. He is pretty quick to call time violations though.

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        • Does Bernades only try to discipline Rafa with time warnings or does he call out other players a lot as well? For a while I had the impression that Rafa was a specific target for many umpires although there are many other offenders as well who get away with it because they aren’t under special observation.
          As I said before, I thought it was a tad excessive that Bernardes started dispensing time violation calls before the match even properly started.
          Oh well, Rafa got through the match unharmed, so all is well so far. De Minaur makes me a bit nervous, though, because Rafa sometimes experiences difficulties against players he has never encounterd before.

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  70. Oh dear, Muguruza is out too?

    Sasha may follow suit but he’s saved by darkness. His match will continue tomorrow.

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  71. Just finished watching the match, although I didn’t get to see much of the second set. With that caveat, I would say that that is one of the most misleading scorelines that one will see. Straight sets, no TBs, but at no point did I feel Nadal was in control of that match. Kukushkin dictated much of the play, even on Rafa’s serve. He hit plenty of winners and was even decently consistent. But Nadal won almost all of the big points, and a lot of those were very weak UEs by Kukushkin.

    I thought Nadal would run away with the match after going up 3-0 in the first. But Kush came back and it had all the makings of a TB until he basically gifted the set to Rafa with a couple of bad misses on putaway type shots.

    In the 3rd set Kush was up a break 3-1, at which point Rafa played a terrific game, the best one I saw him play all match. I’m not sure why he didn’t play with that kind of aggression more often. His BH slice doesn’t do much, and if I were him I’d hit the inside out or inside in FH at every opportunity; it’s such a devastating shot, even on grass. Again it looked like a TB until Kush played a meek game to be broken and then Rafa served it out.

    Basically, I thought Nadal was mediocre, especially on serve, but that Kukushkin never had the self-belief that he could actually win. He forgot that he wasn’t playing Rafa on clay!

    I didn’t see Nadal’s 1st round match. Was it at this level? If he can’t improve on this, I predict he will lose to deMinaur in the next round. The thing is, I can’t believe he can’t play better than this. He must know it on some level, because I don’t remember him ever showing so much outward frustration on court as he did today.

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  72. The first few rounds at a major are always tough for even the top players, as they need time to get used to the courts and the lower ranked opponents often play out of their skin, the match of their lives, for fear of losing with humiliating scorelines to these top players.

    Fed was taken to five sets by Falla in his opening match at Wimbledon in 2010, we’re talking about Fed at Wimbledon! I think all the top players are well aware of the danger and the pressure they’ll face in the first few rounds.

    Sasha really needs to up his level tomorrow, if not it may be another early departure for him at a slam.

    I’m glad Tsitsipas came through his five setter against Donaldson,played over two days; at least he didnt falter when going the distance after seeing his two sets lead evaporated. Lets see how Sasha respond tomorrow, in his case being down two sets to one.

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    • My respect for Tsitsi grew immensely. Unlike Cilic, who couldn’t cope with the evaporation of his two-set lead, Tsitsi did show a lot of passion and it paid off. And if he recovered physically, he has a good chance against Fabbiano to continue his Wimby run. I really hope that he turns out to be the real deal after we have seen so many young guns crumble under the weight of expectation.
      And Rafa actually thinks he played better against Kukushkin than against Sela! Since Rafa never sees his performances through rose-tinted glasses we should take this assessment seriously.

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      • I think Rafa knew Kukushkin would be a tougher opponent than Sela and so he had expected a tough match. I think he’s happy that he won the match in straight sets.

        Kukushkin hit hard flat shots and the ball bounced low making it tough to return those shots (Rafa said it himself). A player hitting that way is always hard to deal with if he also hits with precision.

        Rafa used quite a bit of his varieties to deal with Kukushkin as the match went on, varying the pace and placement of his second serves especially when he needed his second serve so often. Rafa couldn’t serve consistently well but when he needed to, he served well to bail himself out of troubles, saving so many BPs along the way.

        I think he was affected by the TV warning and lost his serve in the third set but he’s good enough to regroup after losing his serve and broke back immediately. Rafa could think and problem solve his way out of troubles, he just has to hurry up to prevent such tv warnings.

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    • What about Fed losing to Stakhovsky in the second round at the 2013 Wimbledon? Anyone remember that one?

      It’s amazing how someone who is a diehard Fed fan and not a Rafa fan, can see his match with Kukushkin. You just have to shake your head. The point is to win in the early rounds. I remember when Rafa had back-to-back five setters against the likes of Petz and Haase. He was two sets to one down in each match. So Rafa has had his tough matches in the early rounds at Wimbledon. It’s not like a Petz or Haase were high ranked players. Rafa had to battle through those matches just to get through the first week. Of course, we all know that Rafa won Wimbledon that year in 2010.

      So e people spend way too much time dissecting and microanalyzing matches of players they do not like. Much better for a Fed fan to stick to waxing poetic about his most recent match!
      🙄

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      • Well, NNY, a few die-hard Rafa fans on this site saw his match pretty much the way I did. He served poorly, played with very little aggression, and frankly got lucky that his opponent missed some fairly easy shots on big points.

        I did end my saying that I can’t believe he can’t play better. Maybe he will, but if not I think his tournament will be over soon, probably next round.

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      • About Stakhovsky, who Rafa fans love to bring up, two points. First, Fed played awesome that day. He hit 56 winners to 13 UE, better than the other day against Lacko! Second, however, Stakhovsky played almost perfectly, much better than did any of the low-ranked players who beat Nadal at Wimbledon. In fact, he played better than just about anyone on grass, ever. He hit 72 winners to 17 UE, and described his play as “magic.”

        Try to find another match where the *loser* hit 43 more winners than UE. It was an incredibly high quality match, which happened to involve a lowly ranked player in the second round.

        http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/06/federer-suffers-earliest-loss-slam-10-years-stakhovsky/48093/

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        • Joe, dont tell me the likes of Kyrgios, Rosol, Brown or Muller didn’t play well to beat Rafa! They too did play well and all matches went the distance. You talked about how great Stak played, as if Rafa’s opponents didn’t play well to beat Rafa!

          Rafa looked more passive because his serve wasn’t working well but he varied the way he played by giving Kukushkin different looks; Kukushkin didn’t beat himself, he was beaten by Rafa fair and square. It’s not like he had MP vs Rafa, unlike Paire vs Fed at Halle, where Paire really beat himself!

          I won’t say Rafa was playing well, but just enough to win in straight sets; and he felt he was playing better than his first match, recognizing that Kukushkin was a tougher opponent than Sela.

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          • Well, that’s good if he improved compared to how he played against Sela. But I’m sorry, I just didn’t think Rafa played well at all. Kukushkin did play well (for him), except for the big points. If he had played better in those big points, I think it would have at least not have been a straight sets win for Nadal.

            The most obvious problem is the serve, which is so important on grass. Rafa just wasn’t really getting any easy service games, at least in the sets I saw (1 and 3; I gather he was better in set 2). We’ll see if he improves in his next match, but I really think he will have to if he is to advance.

            I didn’t mean to say that Nadal’s opponents didn’t play well, they did. Especially Rosol in the 5th set. But I really think Stakhovsky played an insane match that day against Federer. I mean, his winners/UE ratio is just about unheard of. It’s a shame he never was able to follow it up.

          • Nobody said Stak didn’t play well to beat Fed, we mentioned Stak (or Falla in my case) because as great as Fed is/was, he would also get into troubles at times, so why are people so harsh on Rafa and expect him to play well from the get go?

            Don’t forget, Rafa didn’t play any warm up tournament on grass, and he had just completed his heavy schedule on clay three weeks ago and was coming back from injury prior to that.

            I’m already very pleased with how he didn’t drop a set in his first two matches and was clutch enough to save so many BPs, and didn’t falter while serving for his matches.

            It’s onwards and upwards for Rafa, I believe he’s glad he need not go the distance in his two matches so far. I believe he’s also careful not to slip and fall on grass and get injured. The grass is slippery and I saw many players slipped and fell (Sasha fell at least three times yesterday!).

            Rafa could serve better as shown by how he served in some of his service games, it’s just not consistently. One thing positive, he could serve well enough when needed to save so many BPs.

            Regarding his slices, he has some good CC slices, it’s only those where he sliced straight down the centre of the court that were easy takings for Kukushkin, I guess Rafa was just trying to change the pace to give himself more time to get into position, not wanting to give Kukushkin chances to hit his flat shots. It’s just that those that went straight at Kukushkin were badly executed, more floating than those which went CC, allowing Kukushkin to redirect them at will.

        • I saw that Fed Statoskhy match and Fed played well, nothing wrong in how he played, he tried everything he could including whacking a ball at Statoskhy :-). Sergie just played out of his skin.

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  73. And just like that the highest seed Fed can face on his way into another Wimby final is….Kevin Anderson, lol! Reminds me of something.
    And the Djoker has become the betting favorite just after Fed and before Rafa. Can’t even say it’s unwarranted. The Djoker has played just fine so far. I have a hunch that most of Fed’s more dangerous challengers are huddled together in the bottom half of the draw, which looks way more interesting to me than the top half.

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    • There is Kyrgios too, I’m just waiting to see how far Kyrgios could go this time. If he goes far, he may meet Djoko in the QF and that will be interesting as he already has two wins over Djoko so far.

      If Kyrgios surprises us by staying focused, I think he will beat anyone including Sasha or Fritz and Kei in that section. Who knows, maybe Kyrgios making the final is not something impossible this time, but he won’t win it all as once he sees Fed across the net, he’ll start making more errors as he not only succumb to Fed but also to Fed’s unrelenting supporters (who really got to him during their Miami match last year).

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      • Wimbledon crowd would not be as awful as Miami crowd. Kyrgios usually doesn’t let a crowd get to him but that Miami crowd was too much, one of the worst (if not the worst) I’ve seen. That said, I actually picked Kyrgios to reach the final and lose to Fed in four.

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  74. All matches now onwards are going to be banana skins for Rafa. He better be sharp and well tuned. The 3rd round will be against Minaur who is a 19 year old and will play fearlessly with nothing to lose. If Rafa gets through that, maybe Foginini. DElpo in QF who will offer Rafa far more challenge than at clay. Novak/Kyrgios in semi will be a potboiler and the Fed in final. It is a very very tough road to Wimby 18. Hope Rafa is very sharp .

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    • I would like to see Rafa get through de Minaur to play Fognini. But you’re right; Nadal is looking at a tough road if he has to play all of those guys. Then again, seeds are dropping like flies so far, so he may not play those players (for one of two reasons!).

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    • I think Rafa is ready for the 19 yo kid. Rafa didn’t play badly. In 2014 he lost to Kyrgios in four sets but he needed four sets to beat each of his first three rounds opponents – Klizan, Rosol and Kukushkin.

      I doubt this 19 yo kid is better than Kyrgios in 2014, yeah he may hit flat shots and moves well on grass but what he lacks is court craft. Rafa will have too much court craft for him, and it’s also never easy playing against Rafa for the first time.

      Frankly I’m not worried about Foggy on grass, maybe Vesley will offer more challenge. As for Delpo, he serves very well but Feli not exactly a great returner of serves. If Rafa reaches the QF, he’ll be hard to beat even for Delpo.

      I feel the real challenge (if Rafa can get that far) is Djoko or Kyrgios. If Rafa can reach the SF, he’ll really need to play his best and be very focused if he wants to beat Djoko or Kyrgios.

      We may be getting to far ahead of ourselves, it’s one match at a time, just hope Rafa beats the boy with no complications to retain his no.1 ranking. The Wimbledon title, that can wait, let Rafa wins his matches first, one by one.

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  75. Just seen the highlights and can see that Rafa was definitely pumped up.
    Hid body language is the best sign that he means business , hope his confidence mounts up and that the dodges injuries

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  78. So rain delays/darkness helped players like Sasha and Pella. So not only Rafa benefitted from rain delays, others too.

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  80. I expect rafa will ban bernardes from his matches again! Was a bit odd calling a time delay for receiving when play hadn’t even started!

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    • Carlos called time but Rafa hadn’t finished his routine including lining up his water bottles etc. after changing his kit at the end of the first set. Strictly speaking, Carlos played it according to the rules but I think the powers that be should get a life. They will erase all individuality from the sport and they’ll all be clones of boring Federer.

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  82. I figured that Zverev would regroup after the match was suspended yesterday. If not, I think Fritz had a good chance for the upset. He was playing very well and Zverev looked out of sorts.

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