Nadal Aces His Way to Second Round
Rafael Nadal beat Andreas Beck 6-4 6-4 7-6 in his first round match at Wimbledon 2008 on Tuesday Evening. The Spaniard, runner up to Roger Federer at the Wimbledon Championships for the past two years, never looked alarmed or frightened at any stage against the German.
Nadal has made a smooth start to the Wimbledon fortnight on Centre Court and will hope to keep things as smooth and relaxed as possible for the rest of the Wimbledon Championship.
Beck kept Nadal on his toes with same accurate serving but the World Number Two counter-attacked with 17 aces and a big smile at the end of the match.
Rafael Nadal will meet Ernests Gulbis from Latvia in Wimbledon 2008’s Second Round and one feels that this match will be no “walk in the park”.
While calmly waiting for Wimbledon 2008 to arrive, Nadal was warming up at the Queen’s Club Tournament where he succeeded in winnning his first grass-court trophy. Nadal beat Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Novak Djokovic in the Finals- excellent practice prior to Wimbledon 2008.
Nadal’s performance (and trophies) has increased so rapidly that even Bjorn Borg believes the Spaniard will be the man to bring down the mighty Federer. That’s saying something!
The 2008 French Open Champion beat Beck with great effect, having popped 17 aces past him, every player in the Wimbledon 2008 tournament (even Federer) will be “shaking in their Nike, Adidas and Reebok Boots.”
Its obvious that Nadal’s delivery has improved and he had the following to say:
“Yeah, today I served well. My second best for aces on grass after I hit 18 two years ago against Agassi here, and today 17,I’m happy with my serve.
“In my opinion, I am a more complete player because I have more options, no?”
But Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here- the way Nadal conquers Clay is not the same way conquers he conquered Tuesday’s game- There where times when Nadal struggled to dominate. Although most of his serves did reach 120 MPH and more, one feels that he should concentrate on accuracy and not speed.
The beginning of the opening set saw both players climb to 3-3, but Nadal’s experience kicked in and saw him lead the set 6-4. the spaniard broke again in the second set at 1-1.
Nadal struggled to get rid of Beck in the third set and this is an example of Nadal’s Grass vs Clay performance. At Roland Garros, he dominated the third and fourth sets often, by winning them by 3 or 4 matches. It seems Nadal’s gas dies out on grass by the time he reaches the third set. Nadal and Beck’s third set lasted 64 minutes, with the World Number two winning 7-6.
Nadal seemed frustrated in the first set at 3-3. Beck was serving big aces to save a few break points. Many people believe it will be Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon 2008 mens final.
“I have a difficult draw,” Nadal said. “I’m gonna play against a very tough opponent, one of the worst opponents I could play in the second round.”
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