Rafael Nadal is facing world No 102 Ricardas Berankis on Centre Court in his Wimbledon second round. The second seed is hoping to get his hands on the trophy to extend his Grand Slam record to 23 titles, pulling further ahead of rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. He is also in contention for the Calendar Grand Slam after winning the first two Majors of the year for the first time in his career.
Nadal is back on Centre Court following his four-set victory over Francisco Cerundolo in the first round. The Spaniard battled from 2-4 down in the fourth set, reeling off four games in a row for a 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4 win over the world No 41 who has just one main-draw grass-court win to his name.
It was also the world No 4’s first professional match on the grass since losing his Wimbledon semi-final to Federer three years ago, and he was feeling positive after his return to the surface.
“I think, as I said before, I need to keep improving things. But at the end of the match I improved. At the most critical moment, I think I raise my level. That’s a very positive thing. So let’s keep going. Good practice tomorrow. Be ready for Ricardas in the second round. Be another day. Be humble enough to accept the challenge, accept that the situation will not be perfect for the moment,” he said after the three-hour and 33-minute match.
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