Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning his first round match against Japan’s Yuichi Sugita (Reuters)Rafael Nadal has had numerous nasty surprises in Wimbledon’s early rounds so when Japan’s Yuichi Sugita won the opening two games of their first-round clash on Tuesday he might have felt a pang of anxiety.
The Spaniard need not have worried though as he recovered from that initial hiccup to claim a dominant 6-3 6-1 6-3 win.
Straight sets.
Straight into the second round. @RafaelNadal defeats Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 6-1, 6-3Up next: @NickKyrgios…#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/n5gF8oMqvT
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2019
Apart from the smattering of Japanese fans cheering on 30-year-old qualifier Sugita, it was the result that 99.9% of people following the Championships desired as it sets up an intriguing second-round tussle between Nadal and Nick Kyrgios.
The pair have traded barbed comments this year with Nadal accusing Australian maverick Kyrgios of disrespect after losing to him in Acapulco while Kyrgios described the 18-time Grand Slam champion as being “super salty” in defeat.
Nadal was just happy to get through his first grasscourt match in a year without any major alarms and refused to get involved in the hype surrounding what comes next.
“I’m too old for all that stuff,” he said after coming off court. “Too many years on the tour. What I said, I said.
“I’m not a guy who will be in a fight with anybody. I will keep doing things I love. After tomorrow I will be back in this amazing place.”
