Determined Rafa is focused on matching Federer all the way
Spaniard also progresses without dropping a set
Anything Roger Federer can do, Rafa Nadal is determined to match this Wimbledon.
Nadal made short work of Australian teenager Alex de Minaur for the loss of just seven games yesterday as he marched into tomorrow’s fourth round and a clash with unseeded Czech Jiri Vesely.
Like Federer, the Spaniard has not dropped a set in the first three rounds, and delighted his own fans and the sporting stars in the Royal Box with a confident Centre Court display.
These two legends of the game are at opposite ends of the draw and there is growing excitement that they could meet in a Wimbledon final for the first time since their 2008 epic.
Nadal would love to reach his first final at SW19 for seven years, but he wouldn’t complain if someone took care of business with his Swiss rival for him.
“If I am in the final, I prefer to face an easier opponent,” he said. “I am not stupid.
“But if I am in the final, it will be great news. Of course, any opponent will be difficult.”
In previous Wimbledons, unheralded opponents like De Minaur have caused Nadal serious problems.
Since the last of his two Wimbledon titles in 2010, the winner of 17 Grand Slams has suffered four losses to players ranked 100th or lower.
In one of those in 2014, the defeat was at the hands of a 19-year-old Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
But anyone expecting a similar outcome would have quickly realised it was not going to happen, as Nadal was on the front foot from the off.
In the fourth game, two trademark forehand winners put his young opponent under pressure. While De Minaur battled gamely to save four break points, he eventually buckled on the fifth.
He had no answer to Nadal’s power and the first set was finished in 33 minutes. The second set took only a minute longer as two breaks of serve saw the Majorcan get the job done.
De Minaur had never got this far before in a Grand Slam and was making hisWimbledon debut, but the young Aussie didn’t have the weapons to make it a real contest.
So when Nadal crunched a forehand winner down the line to break serve in the fifth game of the third set, the end was nigh.
As he completed his routine 6-1 6-2 6-4 win, it guaranteed he will remain asWorld No.1 when the next rankings are released a week tomorrow, regardless of what happens over the next seven days.
“Of course, I prefer to be No. 1 rather than No. 2, no doubt about this,” he added. “But I really didn’t come here to hold the No. 1 spot.
“I just came here to try to do the best tournament possible. It is very positive to be in the second week, winning three matches.
“I’m happy with the way that I played during the first week. Every match has been more and more positive and I look forward to keep playing well.”
Later on, Centre Court, Great Britain’s last Singles hope Kyle Edmund lost to Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.
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