Daily Drops: Emma Raducanu fitness update; Rafael Nadal makes Wimbledon history

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.”