LONDON: Rafael Nadal might have succumbed to exhaustion at the weekend but the Spaniard had enough breath left to sound a Wimbledon warning to Roger Federer.
Seven days after humbling the Swiss world No.1 to win his fourth successive French Open on clay, Nadal played against type to win his first ATP grasscourt title in a 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 win over Novak Djokovic in the Queen's final.
It was hard to believe that only six days earlier, Nadal had stepped off the Eurostar train from the arduous European clay season, taken a taxi to the Queen's club in south west London, and reacquainted himself with grass for the first time in nearly a year.
Now he is the prime candidate to deny Federer a sixth successive Wimbledon crown when the Championships begin next Monday, although Federer need not turn into a quivering wreck, for he has not lost a match on grass since 2002.
"For sure he will have noticed," Nadal said of Federer, back to his winning ways on Sunday in beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final at Halle, Germany, 6-3, 6-4.
"You never know what's going on in Wimbledon. I think I am playing well. And if I continue playing like this, I am going to have chances to have a good result there. Everybody can win it. I can for sure."
Nadal's Queen's victory was a fabulous final, containing enough violent hitting and entertaining rallies to send the Queen's Club Pimms-ometer into overdrive. Nadal picked up the largest silver trophy in men's tennis, a pot so heavy it probably even tested his conspicuous biceps, and the significance of the result was not to be taken lightly either.
Federer acknowledged the threat from the 22-year-old.
"I don't think Nadal has to prove himself much more to show that he's a good grasscourt player," he said. "Of course, every time he wins the French Open, he looks more and more like a claycourter. But he's so much more than that. I think he's proven that."
Federer insisted his straight-sets defeat to Nadal at Roland Garros was no longer a factor.
"Honestly, that game is out of my head now," he said. "I don't see any sense in dwelling on my performance on claycourt. What good would it do?
"Many have been a little bewildered that I judge my performance in Paris as a success, but I see it like this and I will not give up my opinion."
Nadal has been living with his finger on the fast-forward button. But he will take it easy for a few days; he rushed home to Majorca on Sunday night and has little planned for this week save some golf, time on his fishing boat, and seeing friends in his home town of Manacor.
He will return to London aiming to become the first man to achieve the French Open-Wimbledon double since Sweden's Bjorn Borg in 1980, and also give Spain their first male champion since Manuel Santana in 1966. "Vamos, Rafa," cried the Spaniards in the crowd on Sunday, a shout that will be unescapable at the All England Club.
Telegraph, London & AFP
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