Zimpapers Logo

Rafael Nadal celebrates victory

World number one Rafael Nadal fought back to beat Lukas Rosol and avoid a repeat of his shock Wimbledon defeat by the unseeded Czech two years ago.
Rosol, ranked 52nd, had a set point for a two-set lead, but two-time champion Nadal recovered brilliantly to come through 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-4.
The Spaniard, seeded second, goes on to face Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the last 32 on Saturday.
It is the first time since 2011 that Nadal has reached the third round.

“I knew I had to keep fighting, waiting for my moment,” Nadal told BBC Sport.
“I made a few mistakes but he was serving very well, then the second set was very important. Against Rosol, two sets down, it would have been very dangerous.”

If Rosol’s second-round victory over Nadal in 2012 was one of the greatest upsets in tennis history, repeating the effort seemed, if anything, even more unlikely, but the Czech went closer than anyone could have expected.

Once again, the 28-year-old found a rich seam of heavy serving and thunderous ground strokes that left Nadal helpless and facing a two-set deficit.
After breaking at 4-4 on his way to taking the first set, Rosol moved 4-2 clear in the second as the winners flew off his racquet behind an impenetrable serve. Nadal looked forlorn and his coach and uncle, Toni, stood and urged on his nephew from the players’ box.

Finally, Rosol gave the 14-time Grand Slam champion some breathing space as the Czech’s first serve faltered and Nadal took advantage with some fine returning to get back on level terms and force the tie-break. “How do you teach will, desire, not to quit in any circumstances? You don’t see this often, once every 10 years if you’re lucky. Nadal has made other guys better trying to compete with him. In the definition of ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’ he’s the picture you’re going to see.”

Another surge of adrenaline saw Rosol hammer a forehand to edge 5-3 ahead, but with two serves for a two-set lead Nadal pegged him back with a low slice, and facing set point the Spaniard backed up his serve with a trademark forehand winner.

Rosol had won just two Grand Slam matches since his 2012 win over Nadal, and the difference in big-match experience suddenly came to the fore.
Nadal was now the one up on his toes and Rosol on the defensive, double-faulting when facing set point and fading further as the pressure only grew from his opponent.

Rosol hit 22 winners in the second set but could not keep up that level in the third and fourth sets
The Czech fought off three break points before netting a forehand to drop serve early in the fourth, and Nadal moved confidently towards the finish line before one late scare.

Rosol remained a threat and a mistimed forehand from the Spaniard at 30-30 when serving for the match offered up one last sliver of hope, but Nadal responded with a forehand winner before converting his second match point.

“I never play for revenge, every match is a different match,” added Nadal. “Today was another match I tried to win.
“My goal was not Rosol, it is to play well in the tournament. There was a lot of tension but I think I had a good answer and I think I finished the match playing great.”

Meanwhile, top seed Serena Williams needed just 49 minutes to reach the women’s singles third round after overwhelming South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-1.
The five-time former champion was in complete control throughout against the 30-year-old world number 94.

Williams will face 25th seed Alize Cornet from France in the next round after she beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 6-4 5-7 6-3.
Also through is 11th seed and former world number one Ana Ivanovic .

The Serb was a 6-4 6-0 victor over China’s Jie Zheng, who was a semi-finalist in 2008 and will face last year’s beaten finalist Sabine Lisicki from Germany in the next round.

Lisicki was a 6-3 7-5 winner over Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic while Lisicki’s compatriot Andrea Petkovic , the 20th seed also went through 6-4 3-6 6-1 against Romania’s Irina Begu, despite needing treatment for a knee injury. Williams had a quick turn-around after playing doubles with sister Venus on Wednesday night but still managed to serve eight aces and did not face a break point on her own serve.

“It is tough for me, every week I am always the favourite and that can be pressure, but I can deal with it and I’d rather be looked at that way,” she told BBC Sport afterwards.

Eugenie Bouchard , the 13th seed from Canada also advanced after a 7-5 6-1 win over Spain’s Silvia Soler Espinosa while last year’s semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium was a comprehensive 6-2 6-1 conqueror over another Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino, winning in 50 minutes. — BBC Sport.