Deux articles sur le site de Wimbledon

Nadal Finishes Finn In Three Sets

©Getty Images / I. Walton Thursday, 6 July, 2006 French Open champion Rafael Nadal completed the line-up for the men’s semi-finals with a clear-cut victory over number 22 seed Jarkko Nieminen. The Spanish second seed was on top throughout, with his power game from the baseline earning him a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Finn in two hours and 14 minutes. Spain's only Wimbledon champion Manuel Santana, who won in 1966, was in the crowd to see the 20-year-old Nadal win quickly enough to be able to conserve some much-needed energy for his semi-final against Marcos Baghdatis tomorrow. As both players fought for an early advantage, it was Nadal who set the pace with a break of serve in the fourth game, a forehand passing shot hit cross court doing the damage to the Finn's serve on break point. Nadal defended that break successfully to end the set with a service winner after 41 minutes. Nieminen tried to introduce some more pace and court craft into his game but Nadal was more than ready for that. The ninth game proved to be key to the outcome of the second set as Nieminen double-faulted twice, the second time on break point. Nadal duly extended his lead to two sets without undue pressure. Nieminen reminded Nadal of his qualities by gaining a break point in the fourth game of the third set but the Finn could not improve on that and lost his own serve in the seventh game and could not delay the by now inevitable defeat. That put Nadal into the last four, the first French Open champion to reach this stage since Andre Agassi in 1999 and the first left-handed player since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Another factor which might encourage Nadal is that he is the first left hander into the semi-finals since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Written by Barry Newcombe

Nadal Happy With Life in SW19

©Getty Images / I. Walton Monday, 3 July, 2006 For a bloke who is still supposed to be learning how to play on grass, Rafael Nadal is doing not bad. Even he thinks so. With his 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win over Irakli Labadze, he reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament for only the third time in his career. Admittedly, the last twice he got as far, he went on to win the title but that was at Roland Garros and it was on clay. Here at the All England Club it is different. This is something of a surprise. “I’m very happy,” he said. “Is very important for me be in the quarter-finals. If you look at the statistics, that is very difficult for any Spanish. I am very happy. Today I play serious the match. I am very, very happy because I wasn’t think that before the tournament, no? I know I am playing very, very good tournament so I achieved my goal. Because I am not playing bad on this surface, no?” No, Mr Nadal, patently you are not playing bad and Labadze was no easy opponent, either. He may only be ranked 166 in the world and he may appear to be carrying a little more around the midriff than is usual for a top class athlete, but the Georgian was enjoying his chance to make a name for himself. Whaling away at his serve and slapping the ball for all he was worth, he was a handful. Not only that, he was an unpredictable handful. He cracked gags, he cracked aces and then, just to even the balance, he cracked double faults. “It was tough,” Nadal said, looking cool calm and collected and not in the least as if he had been through anything remotely tough. “He was joking a lot, fooling around. So is not easy, but is okay. I was very concentrate all time. I wasn’t see the other guy. “Was strange because he is playing very tough, no? He play all balls tough, so I have my chance in the second set. I have breakpoints in the 4-4 maybe. I can't. He has one ace, two good serves. So was tough. But after, in the tiebreak, I got my concentration all the time.” Still, all work and no play makes Rafa a dull boy and, in between surprising himself by playing so well on grass, Nadal is thoroughly enjoying his stay in SW19. He has rented a house with his family just a stone’s throw from the All England Club. “I relax a lot, have fun,” he said. “I am cooking. That’s my best. The day after the match, after I was watching television, watching films. Not a lot of things, Not much.” Away from the courts, Nadal is a big puppy. A huge and imposing man, close up he is easy-going, friendly and always smiling. He has time for everyone and nothing seems to be too much trouble. But put a racket in his hand and lead him to the playing arena – even a grass one – and Nadal turns into a monster. He is brutally strong, frighteningly fast and he is a winner – he has that champion's thirst for victory. Anyone wishing to beat him is going to have to drag the match from his grasp and probably shed blood in the process. Step forward, then, Jarkko Nieminen, Nadal’s next opponent. The Spaniard has a 2-0 winning record over the Finn and the last meeting – in Barcelona earlier this year – was a real scrap. But that was on clay where Nadal feels unbeatable. On grass, all bets are off. “Is different,” he explained. “We can’t compare the clay against the grass. I remember in clay I have very tough match, I was losing 4-1. Here is all different. Maybe is more difficult. So we gonna see, no? “Was very important I play a very, very good match today. I touch very good the ball, so play with a lot of confidence.” On Saturday Nadal ended the Wimbledon career of Andre Agassi, one of the legends of the game. But he did not celebrate too much, rather, he stepped back and let Agassi soak up the applause and the moment. “Today was not my day,” he said then. But looking at the way Nadal is progressing through the draw, it will probably not be long before Nadal, the king of the clay courts, will have his day in SW19. And it may be sooner than even he thinks. Written by Alix Ramsay