Wimbledon does not allow escape: hard track for Nadal and Alcaraz

Traps, traps and more traps.

Now, no one said this was going to be easy.

It can never be at Wimbledon, territory paid to the bell and the pitch, whatever the scale and whoever is on either side of the net.

The aristocratic profile of the great British man is far from what happens on the track, on the grass: down there, on the green mantle, the game knows no class.

So curves arrive.

Three days before the starting gun on Monday, the organization carried out a draw that was difficult to interpret, because after all, in London's SW19 – the district in which the action takes place – there is no law that is valid and everything They are surprises and more surprises.

Certainties, the fair ones.

If anything, that the hierarchy of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will set the pace in the men's box and that in the women's, regardless of the crosses, the return of the reigning Serena Williams and the usual threshold of uncertainty, the synthesis is simple: all against Iga Swiatek.

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Nadal turns green in Hurlingham

The Spanish, the Serbian and the Polish are the three references, but everyone knows that there is no room for the slightest oversight.

Despite the extraordinary route that he has signed so far, Nadal, 36, walks with lead feet on the centennial Center Court and activates the alert signal as soon as he knows and interprets the hypothetical layout.

Tuesday's debut pairs him with Francisco Cerúndolo –no Argentine has ever managed to win Wimbledon– and at first chance, in the second round, he sees the giant Sam Querrey, one of those servers who can complicate anyone's day.

In his theoretical roadmap to the final there are names like those of the slugger Marin Cilic (eighth), the effervescent Felix Auger-Aliassime (fourth) or Matteo Berrettini (semifinals), who last year could only stop Novak Djokovic in the final ;

i.e. dynamite.

There is no truce.

Neither does Carlos Alcaraz, who fell on the other side of the table and, therefore, is a potential rival of Nole.

The 35-year-old Serbian arrives with the gold of having won the last three editions, six titles in total;

little to do with the scant baggage of the young man from Murcia, who at 19 years old tackles his second participation.

A week ago I couldn't train at all.

I have come here with the uncertainty of whether I will be able to play normally, although I have felt good these days.

Zero pain at the moment,” he said after losing to Frances Tiafoe in the Hurlingham exhibition;

“I don't see myself as a favourite, at all.

There are many players who play better than me on grass.

We are going to try to gain experience.”

Badosa and Muguruza, in low hours

Caution is multiplied when he finds out about the hypothetical crosses, all poisoned, with a theoretical horizon full of decks (Griekspoor, Otte, Sinner, Hurkacz...) and an extremely demanding debut against the German Jan-Lennard Struff, the tower that brought him down last year at Roland Garros and that already threatens with the serve.

Meanwhile, Djokovic will start on Monday against Soon Woo Kwon and processes a more affordable list

, but not without thorns (Kecmanovic, Opelka...).

But, beyond his opponents, the Balkan must test his ability to get up after having dealt a resounding blow in Paris, where Nadal swept him away for an hour and a half, and from where he left with not a few questions.

Much more uncertain is the future of Serena Williams, who at 40 years old –and quoted with Harmony Tan from the start– returns to the competition after a whole one without playing.

Today, the fantasy of achieving her 24th major –and thus reaching the historical record of the Australian Margaret Court– seems like a chimera.

The circumstances of the Spanish double trick in the feminine are not at all simple either.

Garbiñe Muguruza (10th in the world) and Paula Badosa (4th) landed in the tournament in low hours and with unflattering records in the Eastbourne preparatory event.

They will be measured from the start with Greet Minnen (89th) and Louisa Chirico (227th), respectively.

MARC LÓPEZ: "RAFA'S FOOT IS GOING WELL"

Nadal played his second match yesterday at the Hurlingham exhibition.

The Spaniard, who three days earlier had beaten Stan Wawrinka, lost against the Canadian Aliassime 7-6 (6), 4-6 and 1-0 (3), but strengthened his preparation.

“Today was a good test.

There are still a couple of training sessions left and these days have been positive”, he stated.

Previously, one of the technicians who accompanies him, Marc López, referred to the evolution of his foot ailment.

“At the moment, everything is positive.

The issue of the foot, which was what always worried me the most, is going well.

We have to finish adjusting the training sessions and be ready for Tuesday, ”said the coach in a statement collected by the Efe agency.

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