Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic win Wimbledon first-round matches
- Published
Nadal hits acrobatic 'reverse pirouette' shot on way to victory
Former champions Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic wasted little time getting to the second round at Wimbledon.
World number one Nadal won the first match he has played since June's French Open triumph, beating Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3 6-3 6-2.
Djokovic showed some of the form that took him to the Queen's final in a 6-3 6-1 6-2 win over Tennys Sandgren.
Nadal next faces Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin, while Djokovic plays Argentina's Horacio Zeballos.
Nadal makes comfortable return to grass
It is the second successive year that Nadal has arrived at the All England Club without playing any other grass-court tournaments. In 2017, he reached the fourth round, losing in five sets to Gilles Muller.
He looked comfortable on a surface he had not played on for a year. His first breakthrough came when Sela double-faulted to put him 5-3 up in the first set, and he served it out.
While world number 127 Sela at times surprised the Spaniard by matching his athleticism and getting to seemingly impossible drop shots to draw gasps from the crowd, he also gave too much away.
He gifted Nadal the break in the first game of the second set when he hit a straightforward volley at the net and from then on seemed resigned to his fate against an energetic-looking opponent.
Nadal, seeded second, behind 2017 champion Roger Federer, needed three match points to settle the encounter, which he did with a powerful backhand.
He said there was still "room to improve" but was happy to advance.
"After a while without playing on grass, it's very important to start with a straight victory," said Nadal, who won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010.
"I went to the net a couple of times, later in the third set I served worse, but in general terms I served well."
Djokovic returning to form
Although it was a comfortable victory, Novak Djokovic converted only seven of 19 break points
Djokovic's last Wimbledon outing ended in disappointment as he was forced to retire in the 2017 quarter-final because of a right elbow injury.
The problem needed surgery in January and has required him to change his serve; he has slipped down the world rankings to 21st.
But in recent weeks he has started to string together some form, culminating in him finishing runner-up at Queen's in June, which was his first final in almost a year.
Against Sandgren, he used some delicate drop shots that the American world number 57 just could not get to.
As the sun dipped and the wind whirled, Djokovic kept having to put on and take off his hat, depending on which side of the court he was on.
The only blip on his day was being broken in the fourth game of the third set but he was already a double break up and went on to serve out the match to love.
"I was a bit tense at the beginning," said the Serb, a 12-time Grand Slam champion. "It was quite a solid performance."
- Published11 July 2018
