Rafael Nadal has started his short lawn season with a success. The industry leader won his first of two games at the four-day Aspall Tennis Classic invitational tournament at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, a district of London.
The Spaniard Nadal defeated Gras Matthew Ebden 7:6 (7:3), 7:5 in his first match of the season, while the Australian, number 51 in the ATP ranking, only lost to Grand Slam record champion Roger Federer (Switzerland) in the quarter-finals of last week’s Gerry Weber Open in Halle/Westphalia.
Nadal had prepared for his XXS grass court season last week, just days after his eleventh French Open triumph, on the fringes of the “Mallorca Open” women’s tournament at the Santa Ponsa Country Club. The 32-year-old left-hander had cancelled his participation in the event in Queens due to exhaustion.
In any case, his uncle Toni Nadal expects a strong “Rafa” in Wimbledon (July 2 to 15). “He’s one of the top favorites because he’s fit. If he has problems with his knees, it is impossible for him to play well on grass. I had a good feeling last year, too. Rafael was in a good mood, but then Gilles Muller, with a strong serve, came in the round of 16 – and Rafa lost,” said Toni Nadal in a recent tennisnet interview in Mallorca.
17-time major winner Nadal, who won the turf classic at Church Road in Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, will meet Frenchman Lucas Pouille in Fulham on Friday.
Further participants of the invitational tournament in the picturesque Hurlingham Club are Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) and Kei Nishikori (Japan) as well as the women Maria Sharapova and Natalia Vikhlyantseva (both Russia).