Rafael Nadal suffered another set loss in the second round of Wimbledon. The 22-time Grand Slam champion defeated Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, ranked 106th in the world, in four sets: 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The party lasted more than 3 hours. The match was halted in the middle of Group D due to rain in London. Under a closed roof, Nadal, ranked 4th in the world, is no longer in trouble and in the last match he finished it with four good services in a row after losing the first point.
“I haven’t played a match on grass in three years, so every day is an opportunity to improve,” Nadal, 36, said afterwards. “I have to really improve myself. Fortunately, the fourth set was much better than it was at the beginning. In the last set I was able to play hard with my forehand. But it is practical and I have to accept that my game is not so excellent so far.”
In the previous round, Nadal also needed four sets, then against Francisco Serendolo of Argentina.
Earlier in the day, Canadian 13th seed Denis Shapovalov, who was still in the semi-finals last year, was eliminated in the second round. He lost No. 13 in the rankings 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) to American Brandon Nakashima.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios of Australia reached the third round. In this they compete against each other. Tsitsipas beat Australian Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, while Kyrgios left Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 without a chance.
