World number one Rafael Nadal overcame some minor hiccups to defeat Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday. With this win, the Spanish star reached the Wimbledon last 16.
The 2008 and 2010 champion lost the first set but then came back strongly to win the next three sets quite convincingly.
The Spaniard has won 17 of the last 19 games and he will now face either Australia's rising star Nick Kyrgios or Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.
Nadal had played just 15 minutes of the match with Kukushkin on Court 17 before rain came and halted all action on the uncovered courts. All England Club organisers were forced to cancel 24 doubles and junior matches by mid-afternoon.
It is to be noted that Nadal had lost the first set against Martin Klizan and Lukas Rosol in his first two rounds.
"At the beginning he was playing pretty long, no mistakes, very aggressive and I made few unforced errors with that second serve," said Nadal who has reached the second week for the first time since 2011.
"In the tie-break, I didn't serve my best and that was the real thing - without serving your best in a tie-break against a player who is playing well, it is impossible."
In 2013, Nadal had crashed out after facing defeat in the first round. "I'm very happy to be in the second week again after two years losing in the first and second round. I'm playing well, good spirit, good tactics on court, fighting for every ball," he said.
The Spaniard has won 17 of the last 19 games and he will now face either Australia's rising star Nick Kyrgios or Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.
Nadal had played just 15 minutes of the match with Kukushkin on Court 17 before rain came and halted all action on the uncovered courts. All England Club organisers were forced to cancel 24 doubles and junior matches by mid-afternoon.
It is to be noted that Nadal had lost the first set against Martin Klizan and Lukas Rosol in his first two rounds.
"At the beginning he was playing pretty long, no mistakes, very aggressive and I made few unforced errors with that second serve," said Nadal who has reached the second week for the first time since 2011.
"In the tie-break, I didn't serve my best and that was the real thing - without serving your best in a tie-break against a player who is playing well, it is impossible."
In 2013, Nadal had crashed out after facing defeat in the first round. "I'm very happy to be in the second week again after two years losing in the first and second round. I'm playing well, good spirit, good tactics on court, fighting for every ball," he said.
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