Rafael Nadal took a step closer to his first Wimbledon final for 11 years - but made a dog’s dinner of beating a little-known Lithuanian.
Watched by Dame Mary Berry, the King of Clay, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo in the opening round, looked badly undercooked on grass as he toiled to put away Ricardas Berankis in four sets, 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-3.
Unable to find his range he got away with the bare minimum to set up a third round match with Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, but did little to convince anyone he is about to land the opening three Grand Slams of the year for the first time. Nadal, a two-time champion on his first appearance here for three years, made 13 unforced errors in taking the opening set 6-4 on Centre Court.
The second was no tidier as the Spaniard managed next to no winners in the fading afternoon sun yet somehow prevailed.
“If he was grading himself I’d be surprised if gave himself more than a C-plus,” watching tennis legend John McEnroe observed.
Sensing an opportunity Berankis, 32 and ranked 106th in the world, lifted his level impressively and with Nadal in a rut, unable to win a single break point, forced the match into a fourth set.
The left hander looked disgusted with himself, reached for a new shirt and emerged sharper for his wake-up call.
He raced through the first three games, rattling off 12 successive points, only to have his momentum halted by a sudden rain shower which caught organisers on the hop before the roof could be closed.
It kind of summed up his day but an hour later, with a rainbow over SW19, the pair re-emerged and Nadal finally shook off his doughty opponent and got the job done.
