Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon: ‘Every day is a challenge’

Wimbledon
Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal defeated Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 after three hours and two minutes to progress to the Round of 32 at Wimbledon.

Nadal has been tested in his two matches so far having come into Wimbledon short on time on grass.

He once again dropped a set but said afterwards that he expects every match at Wimbledon to be a challenge.

In his on-court interview, Nadal said: “Every day is a challenge, that’s the truth.

“All the opponents are difficult.

“We are playing against the best players of the world and especially even in these conditions, it will be more [difficult].

“I didn’t play much on grass for the past three years.

“Every day is an opportunity to improve and today I’m through, so that gives me the chance to keep going. [I am] very happy for that.”

Nadal admitted that he needs to improve but felt that he hit his level in the fourth set.

“I need to improve. But I think the fourth set was much better. I think it was a good level of tennis in that fourth set. The serve worked much better,” Nadal said.

“In the end I was able to play a little bit more aggressive with the forehand.

“At the beginning, it was too many mistakes, but that’s a process. It’s important for me to accept that things are not perfect and [that I need to] just keep working, being humble and accept the challenge.”

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Nadal may not have been as dominant as we have grown accustomed to witnessing in early rounds of Grand Slams, but he was ruthless when Berankis offered him an opening at the outset of the fourth set.

The Spaniard is setting out to ensure that he reaches a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the 16th Major in succession.

Nadal will next face 27th seed Lorenzo Sonego, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

Sonego ousted Hugo Gaston 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day and is set to be a big test for Nadal.

Rafael Nadal

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