By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Wimbledon's grass represents ongoing pursuit of rare air for Rafael Nadal.
For the first time in his brilliant career, Nadal arrives at SW19 halfway to the calendar Grand Slam. Nadal crushed Casper Ruud to capture his record extending 14th Roland Garros crown and 22nd Grand Slam championship earlier this month.
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Seeded second at Wimbledon, Nadal knows the calendar Grand Slam is a realistic goal, but isn't losing sleep over pursuing it, his coach, Carlos Moya, told Eurosport.
"“It is a realistic goal, right now he is the only one that can achieve it this year,” Moya told Eurosport. “It is the first time in his career that he is in a position to achieve it, but we see it as something far away, it is only halfway.
“At the moment he doesn't lose sleep, as a team few things keep us up at night and this is not one of them. We have to go little by little, it is not something that we talk about, it is not a primary objective, although we are not going to give up on it.”
A year after Novak Djokovic landed in London halfway to the calendar Slam, and went on to win his sixth Wimbledon, Nadal is bidding to join Hall of Famers Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) as just the third man in history to collect the calendar Slam.
The 36-year-old Spanish superstar will play The Championships for the first time since 2019 when he reached the semifinals. Nadal is playing for his first Wimbledon title since 2010 and third overall.
Moya said Nadal's main priority this week is adjusting to the turf and ensuring his chronic left foot injury is not a hindrance for Wimbledon.
“Right now, the important thing is that he spends time on the court and that his foot is fine, little by little he will pick up the pace, we also hope that the draw will help, especially in the first games," Moya said. “At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers.
"Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass.”
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