Nadal to reach Wimbledon men’s singles semi-final at 11/8
Published:Coral offer fantastically enhanced odds of 11/8 for 14-time Grand Slam winner and current world number one Rafael Nadal to reach the men’s singles semi-finals at Wimbledon 2014. You can place a maximum stake of £20.
From seven previous times the Spaniard (a 7/2 chance to win his third title) has taken part at SW19, he has reached at least the last four on five occasions.
While he suffered early exits in 2013 and 2012, largely due to recurring fitness issues, he has recovered and is in fine form, having just won a record ninth French Open title, after being a beaten finalist in the Australian Open. That’s now puts him level in second on the all-time Gland Slam list with Pete Sampras – juts three behind Roger Federer.
On both occasions Nadal won at Roland Garros, he was Wimbledon champion the same year, and he is now ready to put the last two years on grass behind him. He explained of of his troubles: “Last year, emotionally, was a little bit of a special year, because I came back after an injury of seven months, with the feeling that I was not recovered.”
“That’s the real thing. I had to play the whole year with anti-inflammatories, every single match, so it was emotionally hard.
“There was a lot of success, it’s true, before Wimbledon, but at the same time there was a lot of suffering. Every week was tough mentally because I had to resist, then I was having to playing with pain, then with anti-inflammatory injections.”
However, he is now raring to go, and added: “After winning Roland Garros last year, probably emotionally, I went down a little bit after that. Last year, I was not 100 per cent ready for the grass. I knew my knee was not perfect yet and grass is very aggressive for my knee because I need to play very low.
“But this year is a different story. Overall the feeling this year is better with my knee. I feel a little more comfortable running, and that’s very important.”
Nadal opens his tournament this year against Slovakian Martin Klizan, where he is heavily odds-on at 1/9 to win.
