RAFA’S READY

Nadal looks fit for Wimbledon

RAFA NADAL was immediately declared among the favourites for Wimbledon after proving his fitness yesterday in his first grass court match for three years.

And defending champion Novak Djokovic also looked in ominously good form at the Giorgio Tennis Classic at the Hurlingham Club.

It is usually unwise to make definite judgements based on exhibition matches in front of 1,300 champagneswilling spectators at an exclusive club in West London.

And John Mcenroe reckons

Andy Murray is among the contenders at his home Grand

Slam. But these two legends, with 42 Grand Slams between them, will again be the players to beat when Wimbledon starts on Monday.

And in the heat of the English summer, the two top Wimbledon seeds were warming up nicely.

Nadal (top) claimed he was a doubt for SW19 after winning his 22nd Grand Slam title at the French Open.

But the world No.4, who took painkillers before every match in Paris, has since had nerve treatment on an injury to his left foot. And the 36-year-old looked in fine fettle as he romped past Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3.

Three-time Major winner Wawrinka, given a Wimbledon wildcard after a year out with his own foot problem, joked: “After that I have a lot to work on. It’s OK. It is against Rafa. We’re used to losing against him. It’s normal.

“He’s in full confidence right now. It looks like the normal Rafa. He won the first two Slams of the year without too many matches before those Grand Slams, so he got a lot of confidence.”

Australian Open winner Nadal has been practising on grass at home in Mallorca and there was no sign of pain or rust as he prepares to bid for a third leg of a calendar Grand Slam.

His last appearance at Wimbledon was a 2019 semifinal defeat by Roger Federer - the last time the other two great rivals of the modern era played.

“It’s been a while without playing on grass,” Nadal said. “Since 2019 I haven’t been able to play on with the pandemic and last year I got injured.

“For me it’s positive to play a couple of matches before the competition starts at Wimbledon.”

Djokovic (above) eased to a 6-2 6-1 win over world No.9 Felix Augeraliassime, who said: “You can still see Novak is as fit as all the players on the tour and in the draw at Wimbledon.”