In Daily Drops today, it’s all reportedly looking very positive for Emma Raducanu on the fitness front, and Rafael Nadal has a new piece of Wimbledon history.
Emma Raducanu ‘progressing well’
There was positive injury news from the Emma Raducanu camp today as she was reported to be ‘progressing well.’
Raducanu picked up a muscular injury midway through her opening match at Nottingham earlier this month, which immediately put her Wimbledon hopes on hold.
There has been nothing but a wall of silence since, but multiple news sources in the UK are being briefed that there is a growing confidence within her team that Raducanu will be fit to take her place in the Wimbledon draw.
Wimbledon history for Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is hoping to make tennis history this year with a Calendar Grand Slam, and he has a chance after winning both the Australian Open and Roland Garros so far.
For the meantime, though, he can add a little piece of Wimbledon history to his collection of accolades.
Wimbledon have never allowed pre-tournament practices on Centre Court for fear of the grass becoming too worn.
However, a spate of muscle injuries caused by slips last year, with Serena Williams among the victims, has prompted a change in that policy.
This year The Championships are allowing players to practice on the court to try to wear the grass in instead, so by the time matches are taking place players can he surer of their footing.
The first of those sessions took place today, with Rafael Nadal and Matteo Berrettini doing the honours.
Iga Swiatek tipped for title
Some analysts have openly questioned if Iga Swiatek can be the same force on grass as she is on clay, but Alex Corretja sees no reason to doubt the Pole.
Swiatek goes to Wimbledon riding a 35-match win-streak, and the bookies have her the strong favourite to win what would be her first grass title.
She herself has admitted that grass creates ‘challenges’ for her game, but Eurosport expert Corretja is having none of it.
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“On grass, why can she not play well there? I mean, she moves well, she hits hard, she serves well, she’s aggressive,” Corretja told Eurosport.
“Of course, sometimes you can feel maybe from the forehand side she might struggle a little bit, but after she’s been winning so many matches she has got real confidence.
“She will need maybe a few matches to adjust herself, and also it will depend on the opponent she faces. If they give her rhythm, she can have what she’s been missing through the grass court season so far and she’s going to be motivated to keep on going.
“She’s got more confidence than anyone else. But I think she should also go match-by-match and wait to see how she deals with all the movements and all the groundstrokes, which is a little bit different to clay.
“But there is no reason why Iga cannot succeed and do well at Wimbledon, honestly.”
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