Wimbledon 2022: Rafael Nadal hits top form and passes Lorenzo Sonego to move up in fourth round

By that time, Nadal enjoyed a comfortable night’s work on the center court and booked his place with a 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory in the fourth round, so he was already on set and out of order. Yes, I was on my way out of Wimbledon.

The second week of action at the All England Club brings the next installment of Nadaru’s bid for the calendar Grand Slam. This year, during the fight against foot injuries and stress fractures of the ribs, he won his second title at the 36-year-old Australian Open and his 14th record-breaking success at the French Open. Only Rod Laver in the open era won all four majors in the same year.

If Nadal travels to New York in August and three-quarters of his work is done, there’s still a lot to do. The last 16 opponents, Botic van de Zandschulp, Taylor Fritz and Nick Kyrgios, are waiting in the bottom half. The draw before Novak Djokovic can also be taken into account, but the Spaniards appear to be hitting his stride at SW19 after the most impressive exhibition of his tournament.

Nadal re-adapted to life on the grass three years after his last appearance at Wimbledon, and has long been below standard with four sets of wins in the opening two games.

There were more positive signs here when he made a quick start, defeating Sonego’s serve early in the opening set, as his trademark forehand was ready to work. Nadal didn’t need any additional help, but with more unforced errors in Sonego, he gave the Spaniards a second break in a double fault and was delayed 5-1. The second seed was quickly wasted to put the set together.

A sensational forehand pass from Nadal, who breaks in the opening game of the second set, reveals no disappointment. At this point, the center court crowd had kept their support away from one of their favorite stars as they tried to initiate a more competitive advantage over the proceedings.

Sonego quickly regained his break point and Nadal led 3-0 in a double break as he widened his forehand. Sonego’s hold and the first game of the set were followed by great cheers, but Nadal regained the crowd with a ugly volley, advanced 5-1 and made the second set a great backhand winner. I sealed it with.

In his opening two games in the tournament, Nadal moved two sets before losing the third set. There’s a worse problem than a slight delay in victory, but this time the Spaniards didn’t feel like hanging out.

After the perfect Rob arced over Sonego and fell just inside the baseline, the break in the opening game of the set was sealed, and the Italians returned the ball to another 10 rows and caught it with a shank forehand. did.

A celebration comparable to what we heard in the first week greeted Sonego’s pass shot when he took the lead at the end of a brutal rally, at least before he stayed in Nadaru’s field of view. Sonego requested multiple times to turn on the lights on the center court, and if it took only 10 minutes to close the roof, he was keen to extend his time at Wimbledon and made his wish at 4-2. It came true.

It worked in Sonego’s favor as Nadal sent his backhand to the net, where he brought the first three break points of the match with a massive return. The Spaniards formally summoned Sonego to the net and enacted a law on the midpoint of the Italian moaning.

That serve break was enough to convince most of the crowd that their work for Sonego had been done, and they returned to Nadal’s camp. It was a fruitful decision. Nadal broke straight and returned from the switch to play in the match and sealed it on his first serve as a long discussion between players that continued on the net after the match.

“I just didn’t do it in a negative way, from the bottom of my heart,” Nadal explained in an interview in his courtroom.

“I’m sorry if I bothered him, but I did it the right way. I’m sorry to bother him and I’m really sick. That’s it. I’ll talk to him later. , This is not a problem. “