Nadal returns to the charge at Wimbledon, Djokovic's garden

The Spaniard, champion in Australia and Paris, is looking for another bite at the 'Grand Slam' after another operation on his foot

MADRID, 26 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Wimbledon, the third 'Grand Slam' of the season, starts this Monday with the Spanish Rafa Nadal as public enemy number one, despite, or perhaps because, of a new and recent treatment on his left foot, although the grass is always more capricious and there are strong contenders, while the Spanish Paula Badosa and Garbiñe Muguruza will seek to unleash their gripped game.

The Balearic has the world of sports speechless with his latest exploits, after winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year and reaching the 22 'big'. The Spaniard's adaptation to problems and the ability to become competitive again in record time make a Nadal with doubts even more fearsome.

A little less than a year ago, the man from Manacor put an end to last season to treat a chronic foot injury, a little earlier he had given up Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. His comeback at the start of 2022 was meteoric, with 20 wins in a row and three titles, including Melbourne, until a broken rib in Indian Wells. Misfortune made him stronger again.

On the dirt tour he caught a run and swept Paris, despite the fact that his foot once again gave a tremendous war. The Spaniard won the French Open for the 14th time but confessed to an ordeal that had led him to play with his foot asleep. No more pain and quality of life Nadal proposed with a radiofrequency intervention.

From then on, the two-time Wimbledon champion has been spending minutes on the court, with high-level training in Mallorca, also in London and the Hurlingham exhibition that measured him against Stan Wawrinka and Felix Auger Aliassime. The Spaniard will debut on Tuesday with the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo but in the second round he could already have a dangerous server like the American Sam Querrey.

At the moment, the Spaniard has won the battle of pain and will have to bring out his best version to advance on the London grass. Nobody trusts a Nadal who has proven to have a thousand lives in his returns. The Serbian Novak Djokovic aims high as champion of the last three editions of Wimbledon, with the resentment in addition to the defeat against Nadal in the Roland Garros quarters.

The number two in the world had resumed the pulse of the competition, after a tough start to 2022 with his deportation from Australia, but the king of the earth passed him over in a one-on-one duel. Now, more in his field as a six-time champion, the one from Belgrade (20) hopes to cut back on that 'Grand Slams' race and truncate another page of the golden book of a historic Nadal.

The four 'greats' of the course are a realistic but still distant goal for the Spaniard, a mirror for a Carlos Alcaraz who also received a reality check in Paris. The 19-year-old from Murcia is a reality on the world circuit, but there are many who have been fighting for some time to take over from the 'Big 3', or even 'Big 4', since a reborn Andy Murray leaves with options in London (Roger Federer is expected in 2023 with uncertainty).

Alcaraz was going with everything for the Musketeers Cup but ran into Alexander Zverev. The German, injured against Nadal, will not be in London, but Hubert Hurkacz, Stefanos Tsitsipas or Matteo Berrettini will be, winners these weeks on grass. The veto of Russian and Belarusian tennis players, due to the war in Ukraine, prevents number one Daniil Medvedev from being in the game and, as a response from the ATP and the WTA, Wimbledon does not distribute points for either of the two circuits.

Spanish tennis has other good assets such as Roberto Bautista, Feliciano López, Pablo Carreño or a surprising Bernabé Zapata. In the women's draw, hopes fall on Muguruza and Badosa, two players who know what it's like to succeed on big stages, but who have a bad dynamic this year.

The Spanish-Venezuelan, who won Wimbledon in 2017, will debut against the Belgian Greet Minnen, confident that The Cathedral of Tennis will inspire motivation and forgotten games since she was proclaimed WTA Master in 2021. Badosa will debut against the American Louisa Chirico, also in search of his best version after early defeats and poor management of being among the best.

The Polish Iga Swiatek, world number one and unrivaled in every tournament she plays, is the favorite to beat in a Wimbledon that marks the return of the American Serena Williams, in search of her 24th 'great'. The pools are varied between Simona Halep, Maria Sakkari, Petra Kvitova, Bianca Andreescu, Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff or the local idol Emma Raducanu.