Royal births have generated less fascination. There was a communal staring at screens at the Queen’s Club yesterday, not for updated scores at the AEGON Championships, in which the interest has been so-so, rather whose screen would be first to light up with confirmation that Rafael Nadal will defend his Wimbledon title this month, as if it was truly ever in doubt.
From the moment the 23-year-old Spaniard said he would make his decision public 13 days before the event, giving up the ghost to wobbly knees did not seem an option and, anyway, it is not in his nature.
There were a few qualifications in the champion’s words yesterday from Barcelona, where he has received two days of specialist help with the tendinitis in his kneecaps but, ultimately, the world No 1 is going to tough it out.
“I have been playing with pain on my knees for some months and I simply can’t go on like this,” he said, suggesting that post-Wimbledon, he will take an extended rest and to hell with financial penalties the ATP might fix against him. The proliferation of hard courts is threatening the physical wellbeing of each and every one of the game’s professionals — the number of injury time-outs grows each year as players are asked to give more and more of themselves.
“The pain was limiting certain movements in my body, which affected me mentally as well,” Nadal added. “After the appropriate tests and treatment, we will travel to London next Tuesday. I am going to give 200 per cent to be ready for the most important tournament in the world — the tournament that I always dream about. I will not go out and play, especially on the Centre Court, if I am not 100 per cent ready to play. I have two difficult weeks ahead of me, especially because I won’t be doing what I like doing most, to play tennis. I will be working on my recovery through physiotherapy treatments as well as recovery work on the specific muscular area.”
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Not to be outdone, Roger Federer announced that he was sidestepping the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, this week, the emotions of his historic triumph in the French Open having drained him of all energy. The Swiss’s reserves will be replenished by the time Wimbledon rolls around, yet more reason to suspect that this year’s event could be even more spectacular than last.
For those that the top two have left behind, the target is to strain for as much grass-court form as they can squeeze into this, the most strenuous period of adjustment in the year. Andy Roddick has made the transition more comfortably than most.
The No 2 seed has won this title four times under its previous management and, while his most recent match, the fourth round at Roland Garros against Ga?l Monfils, was completed in darkness — not a situation that best pleased him — the conditions in southwest London yesterday were providential.
No flaming June this, there was more risk of frostbite. Roddick defeated Kristof Vliegen, of Belgium, 6-1, 6-4 and looked as sharp as he could have wanted in the cold and chill. If anyone might profit from a slightly underdone Nadal and Federer in a post-Parisian fog of delight, the 26-year-old Nebraskan is among the most prominent. He has, after all, played in two Wimbledon finals, both of which he lost to Federer, having had to play on Friday and Saturday before taking on the world’s best on the final Sunday.
He was asked if he felt Federer could be more dangerous to the field than before. “More dangerous than what?” he answered incredulously. “Is he going to be more dangerous than the best player of all time? I don’t really think so, that’s frightening.”
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There was an excellent first-round win in the doubles for Ken Skupski and Colin Fleming, the British pair who have won eight of their previous 14 tournaments. Fleming, the Scot who made an eye-catching Davis Cup debut three months ago, might have expected a wild card into Wimbledon qualifying as reward, but did not receive one and is having to pre-qualify for the Championships this morning, before returning to Queen’s later to face the Bryan brothers in the doubles. It is another unfathomable moment in the annals of British tennis.