"His worst surface in many ways" - Wilander on Nadal at Wimbledon

Saturday, 02 July 2022 at 13:30

Updated at Friday, 11 October 2024 at 11:41

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byErik Virostko

Former World No. 1 Mats Wilander explained why the grass is the worst surface for Rafael Nadal, who is trying to prove him wrong at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

There is no doubt that grass has been the Spaniard's least successful surface in his tennis career. While he won 14 Grand Slam titles on clay at Roland Garros and six on hard courts (two at the Australian Open and four at the US Open), Nadal only has two major trophies on grass courts.

Of course, a lot of that has to do with Roger Federer's and Novak Djokovic's dominance at Wimbledon. Federer is not in the draw this year, but Djokovic is the defending champion, having not lost at the tournament since his quarter-final retirement in 2017.

With that kind of dominance, Nadal will have a difficult task if he wants to challenge for the title, even though he has yet to lose a match at a major this year.

In his first two matches in London, he defeated Francisco Cerundolo, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and Ricardas Berankis, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. He lost one set to both players, and Wilander explained why winning Wimbledon might be too challenging for the Spaniard.

"There have been years when he hasn't been able to play Wimbledon, but he keeps coming back. The consistency of Roger and Rafa and Novak and Grand Slam tournaments is just unbelievable. He's 36 years old; he has that tape on his abdominal muscle; he has the foot issue."

Only recently has Nadal admitted that he was close to retirement, but he keeps fighting. In addition to Nadal's struggles on the surface and his health issues, Wilander also believes that grass helps lower-ranked players.

"I think it's good... to take a break [for the rain delay, but] to be able to come out and play this well and to win matches on probably his worst surface in many ways, even though he has won more Wimbledons than Australian Opens."

"Grass courts are a great equaliser for a lot of the lower-ranked players. I think they believe that they might have a small chance to beat even the greatest of all time."