Day 2 of the men’s draw at Wimbledon saw Rafael Nadal begin his quest for a third grass-court grand slam title by overcoming a little wobble as Stefanos Tstisipas and Nick Kyrgios registered wins as well.
The only surprise on the day was the ouster of Felix Auger Aliassime as the sixth seed was sent packing by Maxime Cressey 6(5)-7, 6-4, 7-6(9), 7-6(5).
With the Australian Open and the French Open under his belt, Nadal began his quest for a calendar slam by overcoming 41st-ranked Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4.
The 36-year-old second seed, who has not played at Wimbledon since 2019 and stayed away from warm-up tournaments with a chronic foot problem, looked to be on his way to a comfortable win until a series of unforced errors allowed Cerundolo back in.
The game was truly on when Nadal was broken in the 4th set but the 22-time grand slam champion broke the serve of his opponent twice to seal the match and set up a second-round tie with Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.
Day 2 of Wimbledon began with drama as last year’s finalist Matteo Berrettini was ruled out of the tournament with Covid, in his stead, Stefanos Tsitipas took the mantle of a possible first-time winner by registering a 4-set 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Alexander Ritschard of Switzerland.
The win would be a confidence booster for Tsitsipas, who was booted in the first round at the French Open last month and recently won his first title on grass.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile, won a highly entertaining five-set thriller against Paul Jubb.
His 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-5 win was once again marred by controversy as he appeared to spit on a fan while also getting into arguments with the line judge.
