Fired up Nadal warns Fed
RAFA NADAL powered into his first Wimbledon quarter-final for seven years yesterday.
And the Spanish ace, 32, then warned defending champion Roger Federer he was in top condition for once at the All England Club.
Nadal cruised through with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory over world No.102 Jiri Vesely.
And he was delighted to put behind him the injuries that have plagued him over recent years.
He said: “I have had some hurdles over the past years and I have overcome them. I am in a very positive frame of mind.”
Nadal’s five-set win over Federer in the final a decade ago is widely admired by many as the best ever but the second seed insists he is not keen on a repeat.
“If you ask if I prefer another opponent, I say ‘yes’,” said Nadal, who will play Juan Martin del Potro or Gilles Simon next.
“It’s about being smart. The overall goal is try to win the tournament.”
Federer kept his ‘sets appeal’ as he won his 32nd consecutive one at SW19, two off his own record from 2005-06.
The Swiss master’s cruise past France’s Adrian Mannarino set up a clash with eighth seed South African Kevin Anderson, who beat another Frenchman Gael Monfils in four sets. Anderson did not even know that he was due to face the ‘Fed Express’ in the last eight until he was told in a TV interview after his win.
Federer, now 36, won 6-0 7-5 6-4 against 22nd seed Mannarino on Centre Court but then insisted he isn’t bothered about his amazing run.
“I’d be equally happy if I would have won all the matches in four sets,” he said.
“That it happened to be in straights, it helps me save energy for the rest of the tournament.”
Federer has also not dropped his serve all tournament but he is not the only one, with John Isner also boasting a perfect record. The big American ended the run of Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time at the 10th attempt.
And he hopes that US President Donald Trump will be watching during his London visit this week, saying: “Certainly. I’d love to have Trump come watch me. That would be awesome.
“Maybe I’ll tweet at him if I win on Wednesday. I know a lot of people won’t like that, but I don’t care.”
Triple Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic saw out a 6-4 6-2
6-2 victory over Russian Karen Khachanov in fading light at
8.50pm.