Nadal keeps eye on soccer at Wimbledon
Tennis star taking time to enjoy World Cup even sans Spain
WIMBLEDON, England – It might be the Wimbledon fortnight, but as it happens every four years, the spotlight isn’t only on tennis.
World Cup soccer fever was high, especially as England was set to play Colombia at 7 p.m. local time in the Round of 16 Tuesday in Moscow.
Rafael Nadal, the world’s No. 1 men’s player from Spain, didn’t speak only of tennis after his 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 first-round win against Dudi Sela of Israel.
Despite Spain being eliminated from the World Cup on Sunday, losing to host nation Russia on penalty kicks, Nadal remains engaged in soccer’s premier event. “I’m still enjoying the World Cup,” he said. “I watched two great matches yesterday. I’m going to watch this beautiful match at 7 this afternoon. World Cup continues without us.
“That’s the sport,” he added. “Probably is sad to say, but if we are not there is because we didn’t make the things well enough to be there. In the sport, in the highest level of the sport, when you play well, even playing very well you can lose, without playing well the chances to win are less. In that case, was not the best match for us.”
Nadal got to watch one of this World Cup’s most extraordinary and thrilling matches. England conquered its penalty kick demons with a nail-biting victory over Colombia.
After the score ended 1-1 following 120 minutes of frenetic and often ill-tempered action, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford emerged as a national hero with a magnificent save from Carlos Bacca to swing the shootout in England’s favor. Substitute Eric Dier coolly slotted home the decisive kick to help ease 28 years of penalty pain for the 1966 champion.
England has been eliminated from six major tournaments, three World Cups and three European Championships, on penalty kicks, succumbing in five consecutive shootouts on the way.
England looked to have the game and a showdown with Sweden in the quarterfinals Saturday wrapped up, but Colombia defender Yerry Mina rose to head a Juan Cuadrado corner kick in stoppage time at the end of the second half of regulation. A second-half penalty kick for England captain Harry Kane, his sixth goal in the three games he has played in the tournament, put his team ahead after 57 minutes.
Kyle Edmund, currently the highestranked British player in men’s tennis at No. 21, wasn’t particularly worried that the All England Club would stick to its policy of not showing World Cup matches on site, even with England playing. “It’s a tennis tournament. They’re here to watch tennis,” said Edmund, after his 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 first-round win over Australian qualifier Alex Bolt. “Myself, it was great being first on (today). I’m going to go back to my place and get some treatment and watch the football there. Yeah, I’m pumped for the team . ... Hopefully the boys can get it done, do the nation proud.”
Wimbledon provided its own lateday drama when women’s No. 24 seed Maria Sharapova lost. She entered the event having lost an opening-round Grand Slam tournament match just three times in 52 during her career.
Sharapova, who won the first of her five Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2004, lost to fellow Russian Vitalia Diatcenko 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Sharapova led 7-6, 5-2 when she started to unravel against the 132nd-ranked qualifier. Sharapova double-faulted 11 times, including on match point at 30-40.
“I definitely had several chances in the match,” Sharapova said. “Although not playing my best tennis, I opened up a few doors and was a couple points away from winning this match. Kept, you know, doing that in the third, as well. But just, you know, sometimes you put yourself in a better or winning position, and you don’t finish through. That was the case today.”
Sharapova has won one title, in October, since she returned to the tour in April 2017 after a 15-month drug suspension for the use of the banned substance meldonium.