"He distracted me" - Sonego details on-court incident with Nadal
ATP
It wasn't only Court 1 that was drenched in drama, but Centre Court also delivered another talking point in the third round of Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal was a huge favorite to advance into the second week of the grass-court major despite his less-than-ideal preparation for the tournament due to a chronic foot injury.
Nadal had beaten Francisco Cerundolo and Ricardas Berankis in his opening two matches in four sets. This was primed to be another test of his title credentials this fortnight against Sonego, who possessed the artillery to hit through his defenses on grass.
Luckily for Nadal, Sonego did not play his best tennis, and the Spaniard won in straight sets to reach the fourth round, where he will play Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands.
It seemed that Nadal would win routinely, as he was leading 6-1, 6-2, 4-2 in his third-round match against Sonego on Centre Court. However, after the roof closed, the Italian gained momentum after taking the lead in the third set by breaking serve.
But the match was marred by a controversial moment in which Nadal called Sonego to the net to speak to him about his loud grunting when executing his shots.
The man from Turin has since spoken about what exactly transpired during their confrontation in the post-match press conference. He accused Nadal of poor sportsmanship as he distracted him and took advantage of the moment.
By Sonego's admission, it might be true because he ceded that advantage almost immediately, and Nadal ran away with the victory in straight sets. It will be interesting to hear what the 22-time Grand Slam champion will have to say in response.
"A player should not call his opponent on the net. You cannot do that at Wimbledon. Nadal should have just had a word with the umpire. He distracted me."— Lorenzo Sonego
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