“I was lost in the first set,” said Rafa Nadal. And so he was. It was a candid summation and as much as any comeback the Spaniard has had, his struggle on Centre Court in the end drew fire from him. Sometimes it takes a threat like Lukas Rosol, a glimpse of the exit, clutch points and a through-the-wringer win
to set up a player for the second week.
Rosol had arrived armed with good feelings and a previous win over Nadal on the grass gave him an insight. It was Rosol who upset the two-time champion over five sets two years ago and the 28-year-old again flirted with causing a first major upset of the tournament.
Playing everything, back hand, forehand, serve, volley on full power, Nadal found himself down a set, trailing 4-3 in the second and love-30 down on the Czech player’s serve. If matches can turn on moments, if energy can flip and direction become fickle, the hole in which he found himself in the second set is where it all mysteriously came together. Nadal whipped a forehand down the line and it barely stayed in the court.
From there he clawed his way back and broke in the second set for 4-4. He pumped. He clenched. He vamoosed. He jumped in the air. In his head he knew he had reached the tipping point.
His tempo
Looking towards what he hopes to be a third Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, Nadal knew the match had fallen towards him and while Rosol wasn’t yet hit out, his high octane game, his tempo and his crashing of everything had an in-built obsolescence.
Rosol was playing on the edge because it was the only way to beat a 14-time Grand Slam winner. But as he dipped slightly in the high velocity gambol and Nadal picked up a notch, they passed each other towards a crowd-pleasing end, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-4.
“The difference is maybe one point. Maybe if I lost that set point in the second set, if that forehand down the line went out, maybe I’d be here with a loss,” he said.
“But that’s sport. The forehand was a perfect forehand for that moment. I was fighting mentally. Physically. I was able to find solutions through the whole match. I am very happy with the way I played. Seriously. Is a great win for me. Is the best level I played on grass for a very long time. That’s very important news for me.”
Roger Fededer, in Nadal’s side of the draw and a prospective semi-final opponent, was able to sample the Centre Court’s closed roof under lights, when rain began to fall last night.
The 32-year-old, who’s bid this year is to become the first man in history to win eight Wimbledon titles, led 6-3, 4-3 against Luxemburg’s Gilles Muller when play was stopped to close the roof. All other matches were abandoned, although there are now plans to also roof Number One court in the coming years.
But Federer was in little mood to hang around in the gloaming and came back to win the second set for 2-0.
Müller, a qualifier and lefty ranked 103 in the world and a former junior number one, was playing in his first Tour level grass court event since the 2012 Olympic Games and threatened only in fits and starts.
Federer broke Müller’s serve at the beginning of the third set to make his passage pleasantly uneventful. Within minutes he was leading 3-0 and with phenomenal serving in full control of the match ending it 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Jo Wilfred Tsonga won his way through to the third round against American Sam Querry in five sets 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-3, 14-12. One of several marathons yesterday, Tsonga lasted best over three hours and 49 minutes.
Some of his French colleagues, however, fell out of the draw, although not without a struggle. Gael Monfils lost 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-7(3), 6-4 to Jiri Vesely while Richard Gasquet bowed out 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 10-8 to Nick Kyrgios.
