‘Lower-ranked players believe they can beat greatest of all time Nadal on grass’

Rafael Nadal’s clay-court dominance has overshadowed his numbers on hard courts and especially on grass, where the Spaniard has played the least in his career.

And despite his success rate of 82 per cent at the Wimbledon where he has reached five consecutive finals between 2006 and 2011, and winning the title twice in 2008 and 2010, tennis legend Mats Wilander feels that lower-ranked players see grass court as an opportunity to get the better of Nadal, whom he although claims to be the “greatest of all-time”.

Nadal, who made his return to the All England Club after three years, has already made it to the third round of the tournament, hence staying on course for a third Wimbledon title and a record-extending 23rd Slam.

Following the win against Ricardas Berankis in the second round on Thursday, Wilander was all praise for the Spaniard’s longevity.

“It just speaks to the consistency of even Rafa Nadal,” said Wilander as quoted by Eurosport. “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.”

The seven-time Grand Slam winner however opined that lower-ranked players look at grass court as a great equaliser against Nadal.

“He’s 36 years old; he has that tape on his abdominal muscle; he has the foot issue,” Wilander began.

“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.”

Nadal will play his third round game on Saturday against Lorenzo Sonego.