Nadal survives scare as Covid forces Berrettini out

Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his first round match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo yesterday. (Reuters)

• Swiatek into second round with 36th successive win, Former champ Halep makes winning return Rafael Nadal overcame a huge scare to reach the Wimbledon second round yesterday after title contender Matteo Berrettini was forced to pull out of the tournament with coronavirus. On day two of the Championships, women’s top seed Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 36 matches. An off-key Nadal, already halfway to a calendar Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open, dug deep to beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. “Three years without being here on this amazing surface, it is amazing to be back and I can’t thank (people) enough for the support,” said the Spaniard, who has not played at Wimbledon since 2019. “It is not a surface that we play very often, especially in my case. In the last three years I didn’t put any foot on the grass.” The Spaniard appeared to be coasting to victory when he took a two-set lead but his Argentine opponent won the third set and then went a break up early in the fourth. But the match suddenly switched gears as Nadal broke to level at 4-4, accompanied by roars from the Centre Court crowd. He held serve and then broke again to seal the victory and will face Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis in the next round. There was a question mark over the Spaniard’s durability for the two weeks at Wimbledon having played the entire French Open with his troublesome left foot anaesthetised. The 36-year-old second seed has since undergone a course of radiofrequency stimulation, a treatment aimed at reducing nerve pain in his foot and he looked mobile. “Every day is a test,” said the two-time Wimbledon champion. “I am at the beginning of the tournament and everyone knows the difficult circumstances that I had.” Covid strikes The early action at the All England Club yesterday was overshadowed by the announcement from Berrettini – last year’s runner-up – that coronavirus had forced him out of the tournament. “I am heartbroken to announce that I need to withdraw from @wimbledon due to a positive Covid-19 test result,” the 26-year-old Italian wrote on Instagram. Berrettini was widely regarded as one of the biggest threats to defending champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, having captured back-to-back grass-court titles in Stuttgart and Queen’s. He is the second man to withdraw from Wimbledon with Covid in two days after 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic of Croatia also tested positive. The Italian was a potential semi-final opponent for Nadal. It is business as usual at the Grand Slam this year after the tournament was cancelled due to Covid in 2020 and last year was played in front of reduced crowds. The All England Club said in a statement that protocols remained in place to minimise the risk of infection. Poland’s world number one Swiatek coasted into the second round with a routine 6-0, 6-3 victory against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett. The French Open champion, who has won her past six tournaments, said she was relishing the atmosphere at the grass-court event. “I feel I have only played 12 weeks of my life on grass but the whole atmosphere and tradition is pumping me up and just looking forward to the next matches,” she said. Also in the women’s draw, 2019 champion Simona Halep beat Czech player Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-2 while fourth seed Paula Badosa lost just three games against Louisa Chirico. Beaten French Open finalist Coco Gauff, the 11th seed, recovered from losing the first set against Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse to win 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Nick Kyrgios blasted fans’ “disrespect” as well as “90-year-old” officials after a fiery-five-set win over British wildcard Paul Jubb before admitting he spat towards one of his tormentors in the crowd. “I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time,” said the Australian. “Some spectators think there’s just no line there anymore. They can just say something and they film it and then they laugh about it.”RESULTSMen 1st rd Reilly Opelka (USA x15) bt Carlos Taberner (ESP) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 Mikael Ymer (SWE) bt Daniel Altmaier (GER) 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 Christian Harrison (USA) bt Jay Clarke (GBR) 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) David Goffin (BEL) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) Sebastian Baez (ARG x31) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 Ryan Peniston (GBR) bt Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 Steve Johnson (USA) bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x18) 4-6, 5-2 - retired Christian Garín (CHI) bt Elias Ymer (SWE) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Hugo Grenier (FRA) bt Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI) 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 6-7 (5/7), 2-6, 6-4 Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) bt Zdenek Kolár (CZE) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 Jenson Brooksby (USA x29) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 Alex De Minaur (AUS x19) bt Hugo Dellien (BOL) 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 Jack Draper (GBR) bt Zizou Bergs (BEL) 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) Diego Schwartzman (ARG x12) bt Stefan Kozlov (USA) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 Brandon Nakashima (USA) bt Nicola Kuhn (ESP) 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-2 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x17) bt Attila Balazs (HUN) 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 Filip Krajinovic (SRB x26) bt Jiri Lehecka (CZE) 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 Nick Kyrgios (AUS) bt Paul Jubb (GBR) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 Jordan Thompson (AUS) bt Roberto Carballés Baena (ESP) 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 Jack Sock (USA) bt Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP) 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 6-4 Marcos Giron (USA) bt Holger Rune (DEN x24) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Alex Molcan (SVK) bt Pedro Martínez (ESP) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 Alastair Gray (GBR) bt Chun Hsin Tseng (TAI) 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) Mackenzie McDonald (USA) bt Nuno Borges (POR) 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) Richard Gasquet (FRA) bt João Sousa (POR) 7-6 (9/7), 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Botic van de Zandschulp (NED x21) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 Lorenzo Sonego (ITA x27) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 Hugo Gaston (FRA) bt Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-2, 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 Ricardas Berankis (LTU) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4Women 1st rdIga Swiatek (POL x1) bt Jana Fett (CRO) 6-0, 6-3 Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove (NED) bt Sonay Kartal (GBR) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 Claire Liu (USA) bt Nuria Parrizas Diaz (ESP) 7-5, 6-3 Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ x27) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) bt Jil Teichmann (SUI x18) 6-2, 6-3 Catherine Harrison (USA) bt Arantxa Rus (NED) 6-1, 6-4 Viktorija Golubic (SUI) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-4, 6-3 Barbora Krejcikova (CZE x13) bt Maryna Zanevska (BEL) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 Paula Badosa (ESP x4) bt Louisa Chirico (USA) 6-2, 6-1 Irina Maria Bara (ROM) bt Chloe Paquet (FRA) 6-2, 6-4 Ana Bogdan (ROM) bt Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 6-2, 6-2 Petra Kvitova (CZE x25) bt Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) bt Jaimee Fourlis (AUS) 7-5, 6-2 Simona Halep (ROM x16) bt Karolína Muchová (CZE) 6-3, 6-2 Coco Gauff (USA x11) bt Gabriela Ruse (ROM) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROM) bt Nastasja Schunk (GER) 6-4, 6-2 Lauren Davis (USA) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-2, 7-5 Amanda Anisimova (USA x20) bt Yuan Yue (CHN) 6-3, 6-4 Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP x32) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-2, 6-1 Zhang Shuai (CHN x33) bt Misaki Doi (JPN) 6-4, 6-0 Marta Kostyuk (UKR) bt Katie Swan (GBR) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Maria Sakkari (GRE x5) bt Zoe Hives (AUS) 6-1, 6-4 Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) bt Daria Saville (AUS) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 Tatjana Maria (GER) bt Astra Sharma (AUS) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) bt Zhu Lin (CHN) 6-4, 6-2 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x12) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-4, 6-4 Wang Qiang (CHN) bt Belinda Bencic (SUI x14) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 Heather Watson (GBR) bt Tamara Korpatsch (GER) 6-7 (7/9), 7-5, 6-2.