Rafael Nadal secured safe passage into the fourth round of Wimbledon with a dominant virtuoso performance to defeat Lorenzo Sonego 6-1 6-2 6-4 in straight sets.
The Spaniard, who stands alone as the all-time leader in men's Grand Slam titles with 22, was arguably not at his best in the previous rounds as he dropped a set in both. However, the third round clash against his Italian opponent saw Nadal kick his game up a gear.
Perhaps the World No. 4 saw Novak Djokovic breeze past compatriot Miomir Kecmanović yesterday and wanted to make a point. Nadal succeeded as he flew around the court full of energy, unaffected by his recent injury to dominate Centre Court.
Nadal started brightly, winning his first two service games to love before he secured the break. In fact, it took 16 minutes before Sonego finally won points off the serve of the 22-time Grand Slam champion - a pair of double faults.
Regardless, he bounced back and still held serve before back-to-back aces in the seventh game gifted Nadal the first set. He cruised to the 6-1 lead, with Sonego struggling immensely as he covered every blade of grass in vain.
Nadal then turned up the heat in what was truly a set to forget for Sonego as he raced into a 4-0 lead. Sonego began to battle back and even snatched two games, but the Spaniard ensured the damage was done by securing the 6-2 close.
In both his first two matches at Wimbledon this year Nadal has won the opening two sets, dropped the third then returned to form to win it in the fourth. It gave the Italian hope, but Nadal remained ruthless to burn to a 3-0 lead in the third set.
Sonego admirably battled back to 3-2 before the two men traded games.. Finally, Nadal secured the win as he closed the third set 6-4 to win in straight sets.
There was a bizarre exchange at the net between the two players at the end as Nadal appeared to lecture Sonego, unhappy at that incident near the end of the match when the all-time great complained about his opponent making too much noise during a point. The bone of contention came as Nadal thought Sonego made a sound before actually striking the ball.
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When asked about the incident at the end, Nadal quashed suggestions that the conversation at the net was heated. After the win, Nadal said: “Not spicy at all - I just from the bottom of my heart I didn't make it in a negative way I feel sorry if I bothered him but I did it in a right way.
“I feel really bad now if I bothered him so I feel sorry for that. That's it - I will talk to him after but this is not a problem.”
However, the Spaniard was pleased to secure the win with a stellar win, insisting it was his finest performance of the tournament so far. He added: “Probably been my best match here without a doubt during the Championships, against the most difficult player I faced.
“I have been able to raise my level, super happy for that and wishing Lorenzo Sonego the best for the season he is a great player on grass I think he has a great future here.”
