Nadal On Slam Success With Federer & Djokovic: ‘It’s Something Special’

Thirteen years after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer all reached the fourth round together at Wimbledon, the trio have returned to Week 2 at The Championships.

Nadal is through to the second week here for the ninth time after a convincing straight-sets win on Saturday over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The remaining players in the draw include an intriguing mix of veterans and rising stars, but the past success of the Big 3 at this event leave them as the players to beat. 

“What we achieved in the Grand Slams, in tennis in general, during the last 14, 15 years is something special,” said Nadal. “To have three players that achieved that much in the same moment is something difficult to repeat. But here we are. Of course, somebody is going to beat us or we are going to leave because we are not young anymore.”

Nadal’s draw was hardly ideal with a second-round match against Nick Kyrgios and a third-round clash with Tsonga, but the Spaniard has passed his tests so far with flying colours. He’s especially dangerous once he sinks his teeth into the grass of The All England Club. On the eight occasions when Nadal has cleared the second week, he’s made it to the championship match in five of them.

His serve has also gotten stronger with each match. Nadal didn’t face a break point against Tsonga and only dropped 10 service points (53/63) on the day.

“I know I have been serving well. But for my side it’s not only about the serve,” said Nadal. “At the same time my shots from the baseline, the continuation after the serve, has been [done] very well, playing aggressive, not many mistakes, being very precise.”

The Spaniard will now battle Joao Sousa. He leads the Portuguese player 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. Nadal plans to hit the practice court on the middle Sunday as he looks to continue his path towards a third Wimbledon title.

“It’s important that after the tough draw, I was able to find a way to be in the second week. That gives me some positive feelings,” said Nadal. “Tomorrow is one more day off to practise. Not a big physically demanding [match] today, so tomorrow is a day to keep working hard on some specific things.”