By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Celebrating another coronation as King of Clay last month, Rafael Nadal made a rousing grass-court homecoming today.

Exuding his familiar energy and exuberance, Nadal dismissed Dudi Sela, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, to roll into the Wimbledon second round.

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Playing his first match since he swept Dominic Thiem to capture his record-extending 11th Roland Garros crown, Nadal wasted no time asserting his authority today. 

Even when Sela played over his head, an ascendent Nadal had an answer.

On the practice court, Nadal is constantly tinkering to tweak his game. On the AELTC lawn, Nadal showcased some adjustments today.

The reigning Olympic gold medal doubles champion won 24 of 29 trips to net (83 percent), moved closer toward the baseline to attack the shallow Sela second serve and won 79 percent of his first-serve points in a convincing one hour, 50-minute victory.

It all left the notorious perfectionist pretty pleased with his performance.

"Good, I think," Nadal said of his play. "I did a lot of games good with my serve, and other ones that I suffered a little bit. I played bad game with my serve, of course, first game of the third.

"But I happy more or less with the forehand. I went to the net quite often. Yes, of course I can improve on the return side. I think the return was the worst thing that I did this afternoon."

On a day in which Matthew Ebden swept 10th-seeded David Goffin and former semifinalist Marcos Baghdatis bounced a gimpy seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem from the field, Nadal kept command, raising his record to 31-2 on the season.

The two-time champion said he feels refreshed following an extended break after his Roland Garros triumph.

"I had a long clay court season, a lot of matches," Nadal said. " As you know, I had lot of problems in terms of physical injuries during my career. Of course, I will love to play on Queen's. That was my schedule agenda. But after playing the final of Roland Garros and playing so many matches on clay, for my knees, the drastic changes are not good. So we decided to stop couple of days, then to start step by step on grass.

"I did the same last year. Worked well. I lost here in the fourth round. But I felt I was in a position to fight for important things. I repeat: for me the most important thing is being healthy. That's the priority always." The world No. 1 has rented a house in Wimbledon village every year for more than a decade. Nadal likes to cook for family and friends—he says his specialty is seafood paella—and should be salivating at a mouth-watering draw.

Launching his quest to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back for the third time and equal Bjorn Borg's record for three Paris-London sweeps, Nadal will play Mikhail Kukushkin for a spot in the third round. Kukushkin stopped 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.



It's been a decade since Nadal out-dueled Roger Federer in the epic 2008 Wimbledon final widely regarded as the greatest match ever played. Since the two-time champion lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2011 final, Nadal has failed to surpass the fourth round in five SW19 appearances, including a 15-13-in-the-fifth set loss to Gilles Muller last year.

Yet, the second-seeded Spaniard has cause for optimism this week.

Nadal's first-week draw is devoid of the volatile servers—Lukas Rosol, Nick Kyrgios, Dustin Brown and Muller—who have bounced him out of the tournament in recent years.

For now, Nadal isn't looking too far ahead. The local renter is just hoping for some more sunny days in what has been a glorious British summer so far. A dry, firm court can create a higher bounce that feeds Nadal's heavy topspin forehand.

"I like these conditions," Nadal said. "Being honest, the life is much better with the sunshine there. Is happier. For the spectators, for the tournament, for the players, is better this kind of weather."