Nadal not worried by tough matches

Rafael Nadal claims his difficult progression to the fourth round at Wimbledon could ultimately help him when the tournament reaches the latter stages.

The second seed has gone two sets to one down against both Holland’s Robin Haase and Germany’s Philipp Petzschner.

However, on both occasions he has summoned his fighting spirit and rediscovered his most aggressive tennis to sweep the challenges aside.

And far from being perturbed by his laboured start to the tournament he won in 2008, the Spaniard feels the close contests could sharpen him up.

Nadal, who faces Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu today, said: “It’s because we are playing in a very difficult tournament.

“We’re playing in a grand slam, the fastest grand slam of the world.

“If you play against players when they have a very good serve, it’s very difficult to break the serve of these players.

“After that, if you have two bad points with your serve, the match will be very difficult.

“I’m very happy to be in the fourth round.

“For me it’s very good news, having very tough matches and in the end winning. So that’s a very positive thing mentally.”

Nadal has also been troubled by a knee injury and he is not yet considering another final clash against Roger Federer, dismissing a question posed to him about the chances of him being physically able to challenge the champion.

“I play against Mathieu,” the 23-year-old said.

“Roger is in the other part of the draw. I am focused on my part.

“I won a very important match for me on Saturday and I am focused on the next match against Mathieu and playing well.

“But Mathieu is going to be a very difficult match.”