Wimbledon, Day 2, LIVE: Nadal faces Francisco Cerúndolo, Schwartzman makes his debut and Báez opens the day

After a first day of competition complicated by rain, which forced the postponement of 15 games, Wimbledon will have an action-packed Tuesday. Beyond the debut of the Polish Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, and the presentation of Diego Schwartzman, the highest Argentine in the standings today, the highlight of the day will be the duel between Rafael Nadal and Francisco Cerúndolo, who will interpret a dream For all life .

“It’s the game I’ve always wanted to play, it’s very special. When I saw the draw, on the one hand I was happy, because I wanted to play against him, against Federer and against Djokovic before they retired, because I know they don’t have many years left. On the other hand, I know it’s a very nice challenge because I’m facing one of the best in history or the best “, said the 23-year-old from Buenos Aires and 41 in the standings, talking with the EFE agency.

The appointment is in the second round of the central court, around 11 in Argentina. For Cerúndolo, a finalist last year in Buenos Aires and entered the top 100 last February, it will be the absolute debut in the main draw of the British Major, after having reached the third round of the ranking last year. It will be the third tournament of his career on grass, the surface on which he was baptized two weeks ago at Queen’s (he made it to the second round) and then played at Eastbourne (lost in the first).

Nadal, second favorite, wants to expand his legend even further. The Spaniard has just won his 14th Roland Garros title – a historical record – and has established himself as the best Grand Slam winner, with 22 crowns. After the victory in Paris, he said he played a good part of the tournament with his foot “numb” and infiltrated by the pain generated by the chronic injury to his left foot. And he questioned his participation in Wimbledon. However, after undergoing a new treatment in the area, he arrived in London renewed.

“If I’m here it’s because things are going better. The overall sensations and sensations are positive,” said Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 All England champion.

The former number one could take another step towards the Grand Slam calendar in the British capital, which consists of hitting the four “big ones” in the same season, which happened was achieved for the last time in 1988 at the hands of Steffi Graf. Is that before winning the French Open, Rafa had already raised the trophy in Australia.

Schwartzman, seeded 12a, will play in the fourth round of field 18 (around 13:00) against the Macedonian Stefan Kozlov107th in the standings and entered the standings as a lucky loser.

The small, whose best performance in the English “big” is the third round of 2019 and 2021, did not have a good start on the tour on the grass: he lost in his early days at Queen’s and Eastbourne. His rival will only play his second Grand Slam draw, having reached the second round in Melbourne in January.

Sebastián Báez will play very soon. The 35th-ranked Buenos Aires native was one of those hit by bad weather on Monday, as delays due to rain forced him to cancel the planned duel against the Japanese. Taro Daniele, 123 °, at the end of the day. The clash has been rescheduled for the first round on Tuesday, at 7 am in Argentina.

Báez, one of the great revelations of Argentine tennis this season, will be looking for his first win on the main draw at Wimbledon. Last year, he retired in the opening round of qualifying against the Australian Matthew Ebden.

Meanwhile, Facundo Bagnis, 102nd, will face the Austrian in a match of the last round (around 13:30). Dennis Novack153 ° and coming from the ranking.

The 32-year-old from Rosario will seek the first victory of his career on grass, a surface on which he has the record of 0-4. Those four losses were in this tournament, in the early rounds of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021.

Swiatek, Serena, Tsitsipas and Berrettini, the highlights

Current WTA leader Iga Swiatek and living tennis legend Serena Williams will steal the spotlight on Tuesday at Wimbledon if the women’s draw is to be discussed.

The Polish woman, number one in the world, will open the day’s action on the Central Court, at 9:30 in Argentina, against the Croatian jana fett252 ° in the ranking and emerged from the qualy.

Swiatek begins as a clear title candidate thanks to her impressive dominance on the circuit in 2022. The one born in Warsaw 21 years ago has just won Roland Garros for the second time and has come to London with six titles under her arm and a streak of victories. of 35 consecutive victories, one of the ten best in history. Although she prefers to be cautious. It is that she has not yet achieved great results on grass, where she has only amassed seven wins. In London, their best result is the round of 16 in 2021.

The main All England stadium will also be the scene of the return of Serena Williams, after almost a year of inactivity. The American, now 411th in the standings, will still play a singles tournament since she retired in the first round of this same event last year due to an injury to her right leg.

Although far from his best level, the former number one (who reached the semi-final of doubles at Eastbourne last week with Jabeur) has received a wild card for the event and wants to win his eighth British Major crown and his 24th Grand Slam, the 23rd he won in Australia in 2017 – to equal the Australian’s all-time record Margherita Corte.

“I have high goals. We’ll see”, warned those who clash in the match that will close the day with the French Harmony Tan115 °.

As for the men, the highlight – in addition to Nadal’s debut – will be the presentations of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini.

Tsitsipas, fourth favorite, will play in the last round on field 1 (around 14) with the Swiss Alessandro Rischard, 188 ° and coming from the qualy. The Greek arrives in excellent shape, having conquered his first crown on the grass at the Mallorca weekend.

Berrettini, finalist last year and eighth seeded, will face the Chilean Christian Garin43rd, in one of the first matches of the day, at 9 in our country.

The Italian is one of the players to watch in the tournament. Is that after a hiatus of almost three months due to an operation on his right hand, he is back with everything a few weeks ago and has won the two tournaments he has played since his return, Stuttgart and Queen’s, both on grass. .