Rafael Nadal: Wimbledon second seed reaches fourth round and keeps top ranking

By Sonia OxleyBBC Sport at Wimbledon

Last updated on .From the section Tenniscomments77

Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC
Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online.

Rafael Nadal has ensured he will keep hold of the world number one ranking by beating Alex de Minaur to reach the Wimbledon fourth round.

The Spaniard comfortably overcame the Australian teenager 6-1 6-2 6-4 on Centre Court.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion needed to reach the last 16 here to stay on top when the next rankings are released on 16 July.

He will next play 24-year-old Czech Jiri Vesely on Monday.

World number 93 Vesely beat 19th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Experience counts against youth

Nadal, seeded second behind eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, was in command from the start against 19-year-old debutant De Minaur, the youngest player left in the draw.

The two-time champion rattled through the first set with breaks in the fourth and sixth games and then did not drop any points on his serve in the second set until the final game, when he saved two break points before holding to go two sets up.

De Minaur pushed him harder in the third and made him wait until his third match point before finally succumbing to a Nadal volley at the net.

The Spaniard had faced more of a challenge in the previous round from the powerful forehand of Mikhail Kukushkin, but De Minaur offered little resistance.

The Australian won the Nottingham grass-court event last month, but he was appearing on Centre Court for the first time and the occasion got the better of him.

The gulf in class was illustrated in the eighth game of the second set when, in the face of a lob from De Minaur, Nadal raced to the back of the court and with his back to the net hit the ball between his legs and over his opponent, who could only net his scrambled effort to get it back.

"A positive match against a player with a lot of energy, I am just happy to be in the fourth round again," Nadal said.

"I'll go and watch some football - England, it's coming home or not?"

And he was not alone as the majority of Centre Court departed straight away, with England's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden under way, leaving just a smattering of people watching the next match on court between Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber.

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77 comments

  • Comment posted by U17026731, at 16:33 7 Jul 2018

    Come on Rafa win Wimbledon for a third time and then take proper rest and be ready for winning US Open for the fourth time in your career.I know you can do it again.Vamos Rafa!

  • Comment posted by Sir Regulus, at 16:12 7 Jul 2018

    Deserves to keep that Top Ranking

    Greatly overrated arrogant tennisers miss events & lose points, sorry Rog!

  • Comment posted by AJ94, at 16:41 7 Jul 2018

    Delighted. The fact he went down to 2 for one week after Roger came out of his hibernation and won Stuttgart after Rafa dominated for 3 months was just plain silly.

    Nothing against Roger, more frustrated at the ranking system as a whole. Can't have people serially winning tournaments and being overtaken based solely on the time of the year.

  • Comment posted by crickmo, at 17:09 7 Jul 2018

    Was lovely watching the young 19 y.o Alex de Minaur playing the great Rafa.

    Alex was obviously overawed to begin with but was just so happy to be out there on Centre Court with the World Number One.

    Once he got over his awe he played some very fine tennis and seems to have a great demeanour. Hope he keeps both up as he will be a great asset to Tennis in the coming years if he does.

  • Comment posted by george, at 17:48 7 Jul 2018

    Why are tennis haters even on here with negative comments. seem to be a lot of bad-assed people out there.

  • Comment posted by Tilly Jones, at 19:34 7 Jul 2018

    good match, Rafa was always going to win bar injury, but good to see another good young player coming up. maybe too short to get to very top, but when he muscles he may well do.
    Rafa missed first 3 months of this season with injury, Fed takes clay court season off to protect his body, but still no 1 &2 on ATP and year rankings. they are good. Think Rafa may just surprise everyone this year xx

  • Comment posted by george, at 18:27 7 Jul 2018

    But Federer has been seeded No 1 for Wimbledon despite Nadal being world No 1 in world rankings. Ridiculous.

  • Comment posted by GoGoGi, at 18:20 7 Jul 2018

    @19 Don’t know where you aren’t looking but Nadal is number 1...

    https://live-tennis.eu/en/atp-live-ranking

  • Comment posted by MarktheHorn, at 20:14 7 Jul 2018

    Rafa looks a lot fitter at Wimbledon this year and probably enjoys the heat !

  • Comment posted by LivingDeadGrrrl, at 19:58 7 Jul 2018

    @32 - Kyle is making the same error most players do when playing Novak, they hit to his backhand thinking it's his weaker side. It's actually his stronger side and he probably has the best backhand in the game right now.

  • Comment posted by pes_2019, at 17:56 7 Jul 2018

    It says federer is world number 1 on live scores, i think its a joke that federer skips most of the season to gain an advantage for Wimbledon, surely that should leave federer way down the rankings, he should be punished for skipping events, in football you dont see teams skipping the champions league etc, paddy pantsdown shut up tennis is a great sport unlike rugby, an unskilled sport

  • Comment posted by cotswolds, at 17:09 7 Jul 2018

    @8 - that's been Rafa's strategy for years too. He and top players have always used ATP ranking system to their own advantage and why not. Unless Fed wins USO18 (doubtful) unlikely he'll regain #1 until summer 2019, if at all. With Cilic out, Rafa to win Wimbledon 18.

    Fed haters - Rafa has years ahead & will surpass Fed's GS total (prob in 2019) and overall titles total too. Patience required.

  • Comment posted by U16556952, at 18:33 7 Jul 2018

    In that case forget about the points then but it is a very noticeable strategy on Federer's part to endulge himself with three months rest to prepare himself for Wimbledon. The clay season is long and exhausting and players could easily have genuine injuries following it. I always had respect for Federer and still have but feel he is on the boundary of exploiting a rule that repects age.

  • Comment posted by AJ94, at 17:50 7 Jul 2018

    @12 - I agree. I'm not saying Rafa hasn't done it himself over the years. My point was the rankings system in general is on this year-to-date basis. I.e. form isn't relevant unless it's conveniently aligned to your performance 12 months ago.

  • Comment posted by U17069080, at 17:19 7 Jul 2018

    Nice Game . I really enjoyed it .

    Mohammed Omar Dar

  • Comment posted by RafaRonaldo, at 16:48 7 Jul 2018

    Why do people always want to bring up Murray within the conversation of Nadal. That's like mentioning Kane in the same breath as Messi and Ronaldo... Oh yeah the British media already try to O.o

  • Comment posted by caringman1953, at 22:11 7 Jul 2018

    Even though rafa is not one for grass he is coming good,I do think rogers time is up easy draw to the semi then he meets the big guns,rafa can still do a 5sets and with this heat,I'm going for rafa🎾

  • Comment posted by I am the one, at 21:26 7 Jul 2018

    We are indeed fortunate to be able to watch such a superb player like Rafa.
    When the current generation of top players like Rafa, DelPotro, Murray, Fed and Djoko all retire within the next 5 years, tennis looks to be heading into a bit of a lull.
    I fancy Djoko or Del Potro to win this year. Both look in fine form.

  • Comment posted by Kathy, at 19:28 7 Jul 2018

    Good day, Rafa won then England won. I watched both and enjoyed both. It may surprise some people to know this is possible and with a laptop as well as a telly you can even have both on at the same time! I do hope the AELTC listen to the BBC though and put the men's final at 1pm not 2pm so that it doesn't clash too much with the footie.

  • Comment posted by LivingDeadGrrrl, at 18:53 7 Jul 2018

    @25 - Agassi also skipped the Australian Open for years and Wimbledon a few times at the beginning of his career. Steffi Graf skipped a few Australian Open's too, quite a lot of players did. Muster skipped Wimbledon most of his career.

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