Two-time champion Rafael Nadal (7/1 – Wimbledon outright) says he is content with how his preparations for Wimbledon have been going, but cannot be ‘super happy’ as his prospects remain somewhat uncertain.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion is hoping to add a third SW19 title to his amazing CV, having taken the honours in both 2008 and 2010.
His approach to the third Grand Slam of the year – he won both of the first two – has been hampered by a long-standing foot problem, but Nadal says he has made good progress in the last couple of weeks, even if he cannot be certain that things will go as planned when the action gets under way for real on Monday.
He posted on social media: “It’s obvious that if I am here, it’s because things are going better. If not, I would not be here.
“So I’m quite happy about things, how they evolved. I can’t be super happy because I don’t know what can happen.”
Nadal is scheduled to begin his Wimbledon campaign against Francisco Cerundolo (Match odds – Nadal 1/40, Cerundolo 12/1) on Tuesday, with the two players having never previously met.
Meanwhile, US Open champion Emma Raducanu (50/1 – Wimbledon outright) is also confident that she will be in good shape when she takes to the court on Monday.
The 19-year-old has been struggling with a side strain in recent weeks, but believes that she has made good progress in recent days and will be ready for a very tricky SW19 opener against Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck (Match betting – Raducanu 11/8, Van Uytvanck 4/7).
She told reporters: “I think that this week was a good build-up. Definitely there were moments earlier on in the week we weren’t really sure.
“And now it’s full steam ahead. Everyone’s really looking forward to it, we’re all ready. Right now I’m fit and I’m ready to go.”
