French Open champion Rafael Nadal insists he will not be Wimbledon king this year despite his blistering passage into the second round.
The 19-year-old, who one day hopes to become only the second Spanish men’s champion at the All England Club, crushed American veteran Vince Spadea 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 on his centre court debut.
But even that confident 91-minute performance has not altered his belief that he is not ready yet to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win back-to-back Grand Slams in Paris and London.
”I won the first round but I cannot win the title this year,” said Nadal.
”I am happy with the way I played, I can play good on grass and that’s important, not only for today, but for the next few years. If I can improve some things in my game, I think I can play well here any year.”
Having conquered the French Open, Nadal came into Wimbledon low on grasscourt confidence having suffered a first round defeat at the warm-up event in Halle a fortnight ago.
But when he made his one and only previous appearance here in 2003, he made the third round, beating Mario Ancic, a semifinalist last year, along the way.
”There are better players here than me — Federer is better, Hewitt is better, Roddick is better, Henman is better. But not just these four. Every match here is difficult especially when a player is serving well. It becomes complicated.”
Unlike many of his compatriots, Nadal enjoys the challenge of grass and would dearly love to emulate 1966 champion Manuel Santana as the only Spanish men’s champion.
”Wimbledon is special for me because only one Spanish player has ever won here. It’s important and I want to improve,” he said.
For now, he intends to enjoy the moment as he contemplates what should be another easy outing in the second round against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.
If he gets through that, French teenager Richard Gasquet could be waiting for him in the third round.
”I had a very good feeling about the way I played against Spadea,” said Nadal.
”I played a good match. I served well which was important for my game. I was very happy with my forehand because sometimes on grass the forehand has not been good.
”The match ended up being a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.” – Sapa-AFP