Nadal Chasing Borg, Wimbledon History
Doubt Rafael Nadal for the umpteenth time at your own peril. Before last year, the Spaniard had not made a Wimbledon quarter-final since 2011, when he reached his fifth consecutive final at SW19.
His critics said that Nadal's time on grass had come and gone. Maybe he should skip Wimbledon and preserve his body? Nadal proceeded to make his first Wimbledon semi-final in seven years and pushed eventual champion Novak Djokovic better than anyone, falling 10-8 in the fifth set.
Earlier this year, on clay, there were similar rumblings when the World No. 2 failed to win a title before the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome for the first time in 15 years. Nadal then won 12 straight matches, including his record-setting 34th ATP Masters 1000 title and record-extending 12th Roland Garros title.
“Of course to have this trophy with me means a lot,” Nadal said after winning in Paris earlier this month. “But the personal satisfaction of changing the dynamic is the thing that I am more satisfied.”
More history beckons for the Spaniard at SW19. The two-time champion (2008, 2010) is trying to join Swede Bjorn Borg (1978-80) by completing the Roland Garros - Wimbledon double for the third time. Nadal was only four sets away from the feat last year.
He beat then-No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro to make the semi-finals in one of the matches of the season 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The two ended their contest near Del Potro's baseline in a long embrace.
“I am very happy the way that I survived a lot of important points in that fifth set. I think I did a lot of things well, I went to the net,” Nadal said at the time. “It's difficult to explain the feelings because, of course, you appreciate it. In some way you enjoy it... You enjoy because at the end of the day we are playing in one of the best courts in our sport, against a great opponent, with full crowd, fifth set, great level of tennis. Of course, you have to enjoy.”
The victory propelled him back to the last four at the All England Club, a place at the Grand Slam his critics doubted he'd ever see again. The Spaniard had been hampered with early-round losses in prior years.
Four of his past six losses at Wimbledon have come to opponents ranked No. 100 or lower: No. 100 Lukas Rosol (2R) in 2012, No. 135 Steve Darcis (1R) in 2013, No. 144 Nick Kyrgios (4R) in 2014 and No. 102 Dustin Brown (2R) in 2015. The Spaniard could have another crack at Kyrgios. The two could meet in the second round.