World number one Rafael Nadal pulled back from the abyss to reach the Wimbledon third round on Thursday just when it looked as though bogeyman Lukas Rosol had returned to haunt him. Two years after being knocked out at the same stage by the hard-hitting Czech in a late night Centre Court horror show, the Spaniard found himself a point away from falling two sets behind before fighting back to win 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 6-4.
If twice former champion Nadal is being made to work overtime so far, women's favourite Serena Williams, bidding for a sixth singles title at the All England club, has marched through untroubled so far. The American beat South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-1 and has dropped a mere five games so far. Australia wildcard Nick Kyrgios produced the comeback of the day to knock out French 13th seed Richard Gasquet.
One of several young guns making an impact at the championships, the 19-year-old battled back from a two-set deficit and saved nine match points in a cliffhanger decider before sealing a 3-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 10-8 victory. As well as reaching the third round of a slam for the first time, Kyrgios also earned the distinction of saving the most number of match points by a man at Wimbledon.
The 28-year-old Nadal is never more vulnerable than in the early rounds at Wimbledon as he makes the tricky transition from his beloved bouncy claycourts to the low, skidding ball which is the norm on fresh green grass. After battling past feisty Slovakian Martin Klizan in the opening round, Nadal found himself in an even deeper hole against a man who sent his world spinning off its axis in 2012. Rosol's dramatic five-set victory under the Centre Court roof two years ago was the last match Nadal played for seven months as the pain in his battle-scarred knees finally got the better of him.
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