The Centre Court crowd are getting behind Mikhail Kukushkin while they still can. The Kazakh is not waving, but drowning though.

He saves the game's first break point to cheers and is momentarily spared another by a Hawk-Eye replay that draws a disbelieving puff of the cheeks from Nadal.

The world number one has his bib on and is tucking into Kukushkin's second serve, crashing away a winner to move to advantage.

Kukushkin gets out of jail as he rolls back the clock to the first set with some pummelling groundstrokes and makes good his escape.

He has earned a few more minutes to bask in the Centre Court glow.

Pat Cash
1987 Wimbledon champion on BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, AP

"We always enjoy it when Rafa is on court but he is still not 100% comfortable out there. Kukushkin is still going for his shots which means he is still dangerous, especially when there is only one break in it. Rafa is still finding his range too and not playing his best so he cannot take it for granted yet."

That is a twist that director M.Night Shyamalan might dismiss as a little fanciful.

Just when Rafael Nadal seemed to be over the horizon, Mikhail Kukushkin forces two break points - his first of the match- at 15-40.

The Kazakh wastes them up the wall like he has a whole stack though, framing a return horribly and then whacking a second-serve return into the gauze.

If Kukushkin is expecting more break chances, he is not going to get them in this game. Rafa makes his way through without any more scares.

Image source, Getty Images

Thirteen of the last 14 games have been won by Rafael Nadal. If the umpire could climb out of the chair and wave it off I don't think that anyone in Mikhail Kukushkin's corner would complain.

They might be rummaging in their bags for a towel to lob down from the players' box themselves.

A service hold to love from Rafael Nadal. Mikhail Kukushkin is being squashed flat under the sheer weight of the Spaniard dominance. He needs to catch a branch because he is tumbling down and out and fast.

Image source, Getty Images

No play before 16:00 BST on the outside courts and frankly even that is almost certainly optimistic.

Rafael Nadal backs his man up to the cliff edge at 0-40. They say a cornered animal is the most dangerous, Mikhail Kukushkin's claws have been clipped though. He salvages one of the break points, but folds out on the second as he attempts to drill down the line and finds only net.

That set flew by in just 28 minutes.

Peter Fleming
Seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion on BBC TV

"They say what doesn't kill you makes you stringer and that's the case for Nadal. He has played three guys that have come out all guns blazing and had the answer each time."

Image source, AFP

They won't need to vacuum the court surface after this one, Rafael Nadal is doing some thorough floor-wiping. A game away from the third.

Reza:, external Rafa has such agility on the court. What balance on that powerful forehand.

Matt McGladrigan:, external Kukushkin really has to take his chances to get forward and get into the net. Not going to beat Rafa from the baseline

Jack Blackburn:, external Game of small margins. Kukushkin lost an inch, and now appears to be giving a mile through frustration and loss of belief.

Mikhail Kukushkin trudges back to his seat and there is no sign of the blizzard of winners from the other end halting.

Rafael Nadal makes the game's second break point stick as he forced his man wide and come to the net to pat a volley into the unguarded open court.

It is looking bleak for Kukushkin.

Image source, Reuters

"Thanks Sir Bobby, you're right, this wasn't the event to relaunch 1998's sarong."

As the ex-Manchester United men swap fashion tips, Rafael Nadal holds serve, finding angles from off the protractor thanks to that vicious top-spin dip.

Heavy hands from Mikhail Kukushkin as he comes in at deuce and clumps a clumsy drop-shot into mid-court. Nadal is off his blocks to slide away a winner with time to spare. Mikhail Kukushkin hangs tough, helped out of a tight corner as Nadal hits wide and long to gift him the game.

The Kazakh is a punchbag for Nadal's best though. After making all the running in the first set and the bit, he is hanging. Does tennis rope-a-dope exist?

Image source, AFP

Rafael Nadal is chugging now. The furnace is stoked by another service game to love and the destination of the match looks a little inevitable now. Can Kukushkin wrestle back control?

Jack Blackburn:, external Kukushkin's serve faltered just a little bit in that set, and it was enough for Nadal to go from frustration to rampaging.

Joel Newnham:, external Now we see the man who won this tournament in 2010

Mike Willis:, external Even if Rafa wins this match he's looking very beatable. Federer must be Andy's main threat. Didn't expect to say that this year.

Peter Fleming
Seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion on BBC TV

"How many times have we seen Rafa from 10 feet behind the baseline rip winners? It takes guts for his opponent to step in towards the net."

Suddenly there is cordite in Rafael Nadal's strings, the forehand is flaying like a threshing machine and Mikhail Kukushkin is being mown down.

Walloping power from the back of the court and the first set feels like an awful long time ago as he breaks again at the start of the third.

This is looking ominously like the third in a trilogy of four-set comebacks for the Spaniard.

Image source, Other

Manchester United's new signing Ander Herrera is at Wimbledon to watch his compatriot Rafa.

Forty-love and three set points and Rafael Nadal needs only the one.

The second set is confirmed as a goner after 33 minutes and it's conclusion was marked by a sudden landside of points in Nadal's favour.

Can Mikhail Kukushkin stem the tide?

Oh my days! What a winner from Rafael Nadal to wrap up the double break. The world number one scuttles around a deep slice from Mikhail Kukushkin and unleashes a trademark flourish forehand, lassooing a cross-court winner.

He will serve for the set next.