Nadal a man in a hurry at SW19

RAFAEL NADAL stayed up late to watch his friend Rory McIlroy win golf’s US Open but was still fresh enough to start the defence of his Wimbledon title with a straight-sets win over Michael Russell yesterday.

Nadal and McIlroy’s friendship started when they met at the US Open last September.

As McIlroy lifted his maiden major title at Congressional, it was approaching 12.30am at SW19.