After not playing for three years at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal is quite happy as he reached the semifinal round of the championship.
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Rafael Nadal is back on a winning streak at Wimbledon after making it to the semifinals in 2018 and 2019. A two-time champion advanced to the All England Club’s round of eight for the eighth time and maintained his Majors dominance in 2022. Ahead of Wimbledon, Nadal took a break to heal his knee after winning the 14th Roland Garros title. At the All England Club, the Spaniard struggled mightily against rivals Francisco Cerundolo and Ricardas Berankis who were ranked lower than him. In both matches, Nadal dropped a set, and it took him six and a half hours to overcome them and go to the third round. He improved against Lorenzo Sonego, defeating the Italian in two hours with scores of 6-1, 6-2, and 6-4 to advance to the round of 16.
Nadal defeated Botic Van De Zandschulp, a top-30 opponent, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 in two hours and 21 minutes to advance into the round of eight. The Spaniard opened up a 6-4, 6-2, 5-2 lead but the Dutchman fought back to force a tie break by playing well on serve and return. Nadal won it on the fourth match point to take the lead and keep his title chances alive. The Spaniard controlled his strokes well, hitting 29 winners and 17 unforced errors, and was broken twice. Nadal controlled the scoreboard by converting five of his 11 break chances, and he had more opportunities to win the match earlier.
Nadal played well in the opening set and sealed it with a break at 5-4 to give himself a boost. The Spaniard conceded six points after the opening shot and stopped one break attempt. Following Van De Zandschulp’s errant backhand, Nadal saved it in the first game and defeated the opponent in the following one to take the lead.
Rafael Nadal’s first Wimbledon objective, according to coach Francisco Roig, has been met, and Team Nadal is now concentrating on their next objective, which is winning the championship. At Wimbledon, Nadal, 36, was able to participate, and he has advanced to the quarterfinals. At the beginning of the competition, Team Nadal wanted to avoid putting too much pressure on Nadal, but now they are optimistic about his chances of capturing his first championship at The Championships since 2010. Taylor Fritz will be Nadal’s opponent in the Wimbledon quarterfinal after he won his previous four games.
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“When we got here, the first thing was to be able to compete because we had the foot treatment and didn’t know how it would work. The first goal was to be in the second week and play better every day and now we are in the quarterfinals and can be happy. At the moment, we are going well but have a quarterfinal with Fritz. When we arrived, we did not think about winning. I said that if we reached the second week, put Rafa among the favorites to win the tournament,” Roig told Marca
