It has been many years since Wimbledon has witnessed Rafael Nadal prowling the baseline so confidently – those narrow eyes glaring across the net as if his opponent just dared to insult his mother, that laser-like focus matched only by the staggering accuracy of his groundstrokes. But the Spaniard, who is seeded four this year, has every reason to be confident judging by his enthralling and ultimately emphatic 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Donald Young.
Before the match pictures had circulated on social media of Nadal struggling to use a self-service checkout machine while buying a six-pack of Diet Coke in Wimbledon village. But, despite appearances to the contrary in recent years, he still knows his way around a grass court as he showed by booking a place in the third round, where he will play the powerful young Russian Karen Khachanov, the 30th seed.
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