Wimbledon 2022: 3 Factors that stood out in Rafael Nadal's 1R win over Francisco Cerundolo

Second seed Rafael Nadal of Spain beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Tuesday to move into the second round of the Wimbledon Championships. The match lasted for three hours and 36 minutes.

The 36-year-old Nadal, who has won Wimbledon twice, will take on Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania in the second round on Thursday. Cerundolo fought well on Tuesday, but Nadal’s experience made the difference in the end as the Spaniard won his first match on grass in three years.

On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:

#1 Nadal was passive at the start but won the first set

Rafael Nadal made a good start to the match by breaking Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth game of the first set to lead 3-1. However, Cerundolo broke back in the subsequent game and then held his serve to level the score. Nadal saved three break points in the ninth game of the first set to hold his serve and go 5-4 up.

The Spaniard then broke Cerundolo to win the first set. Nadal was a bit passive in the first set and could only hit two winners, with none of them coming off his forehand. Cerundolo, on the other hand, kept going around his backhand to hit a lot of inside-out forehands. He also hit a few drop shot winners to shake Nadal up.

However, Cerundolo struggled to return Nadal’s first serves. Moreover, the Argentine committed a number of unforced errors, especially off his backhand wing, to make Nadal’s job easier.

#2 Nadal became more aggressive in the second set

Rafael Nadal started the second set with a lot more positive intent and fired an ace on the very first point. He then went on to hit three winners off his forehand, including one with a drop shot, in his next service game. He also started hitting his returns deep and the tactic paid off well.

Cerundolo also played a number of powerful forehand winners to stun Nadal. One of his forehand winners even breached the 100 miles per hour mark. However, his tendency to commit unforced errors continued as Nadal put pressure on him by rushing the net more frequently in the second set.

Rafael Nadal saved a break point in the fifth game and then broke the Argentine in the subsequent game to go 4-2 ahead. He succeeded in maintaining the lead and winning the second set.

#3 Cerundolo bounced back superbly, but Nadal’s resilience saw him through

Cerundolo demonstrated power in his groundstrokes, but also committed too many errors

Cerundolo kept fighting and although Nadal went up a break in the third set, he broke right back to level the score and succeeded in breaking the Spaniard again in the eighth game to go 5-3 up. He then held his serve to win the third set 6-3.

Rafael Nadal was again somewhat passive in the third set and could only manage three winners. Cerundolo continued the good work in the fourth set, too, and went 4-2 up. However, Nadal raised his level and won two successive games to level the score at 4-4.

The Spaniard then held his serve to love to take a 5-4 lead and broke Cerundolo again in the 10th game to seal the match. Cerundolo was the more aggressive of the two and hit 30 winners in the match against Nadal’s 23.

However, the Argentine committed 46 unforced errors against Nadal’s 41 and it made the difference in the end. Rafael Nadal was far from his best, but did better during key moments to prevail in the end. Cerundolo had 18 break point opportunities in the match, but Nadal succeeded in saving 14 of them.

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