Rafael Nadal escapes against Cerundolo at Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal barely avoided playing a 5th set against Francisco Cerundolo as he played the first match at Wimbledon in three years 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4.

It was a very Nadal type of match yet the Spaniard did not play that well. It was his first match at Wimbledon in three years and obviously, there would have been some mixed emotions for Nadal. He jumped out to an early lead of 3-1 but Cerundolo battled back after some stellar play. It was evident that Nadal was not playing as well as he could because he was quite flat at times.

After saving and wiggling out of a 15-40 situation at 4-4, Nadal then got a chance to seal the opening set and he took it 6-4. The 2nd set was quite straightforward for Nadal who took a break midway through the 2nd set and helped it for a 6-3 finish. He took an early break in the 3rd set as well 2-1 but gave it right away.

It proved costly as it gave Cerundolo quite a bit of confidence that he took to steal away the 3rd set doing a lot of damage with his forehand. He was choosing his posts rather well all day long and it was generally a really good showing from a clay-court specialist.

The final set was very lucky for Nadal but he also proved quite competitive doing what he does best. Both players had chances but the crucial moment in this match came when he held at 1-3 from 0-40 down. That chance for Cerundolo to go up a double break was huge and after failing to do so and getting only to 4-2, Nadal was able to win four games in a row to seal the match 6-4.