Rafael Nadal has a drama-free win at Wimbledon

Reporting from Wimbledon, England — Rafael Nadal didn’t need anything treated, tweaked, massaged, fixed. He didn’t chat extraneously with his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal. Pop star Shakira was on Court 1 cheering for Wimbledon’s second-seeded player.

And after two consecutive physically taxing and mentally challenging five-set wins, Nadal didn’t need any extra time Monday. He beat France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in just over two hours.

Nadal had needed work on both his arm and his knee in the third round. “Today it was better,” Nadal said. “I took anti-inflammatories. I did a lot of treatment. I didn’t feel the pain today. It’s there but it wasn’t a problem. Hopefully it’s going to be fine for the next day too.”

The next day will be Wednesday, actually, when Nadal will play sixth-seeded Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals. Soderling beat ninth-seeded David Ferrer in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 marathon.

Nadal was fined $2,000 for receiving verbal coaching from “Uncle Toni” during his third-round win. Coaching from the stands is not allowed.

“Rules are the rules,” Nadal said with a shrug.

Nadal was also asked about his relationship with Soderling. In 2007 here, Nadal called Soderling “very strange. I have said hello to him several times to his face and he’s never said hello to me. I thought it was me but I asked around the locker room and almost nobody had anything nice to say about him.”

There is no problem now, Nadal said. “I had a little bit of a problem in this tournament a few years ago. After that, I never had any problem with him.”

It’s always something

During his 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Lleyton Hewitt, third-seeded Novak Djokovic called for a trainer over what he termed “stomach discomfort.”

Afterward, Hewitt said, “He’s always got something,” when asked about the Serbian’s timeout.

Djokovic has a reputation of overusing trainers and indicating injuries or illnesses to take a rest. Most notably at the 2008 U.S. Open, Andy Roddick said, “He’s either quick to call a trainer or he’s the most courageous guy of all time.”

It’s an unfair criticism, Djokovic said.

“I haven’t asked for a medical timeout in a long time,” he said. “Everybody has an opinion.”

And it’s always Federer

After losing three sets in his first two matches, six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer was hardly noticed Monday. He was first up, beat Jurgen Melzer, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and was done almost before anyone noticed.

“I thought I played great,” Federer said.

Federer also had some thoughts on instant replay for soccer. Federer is a noted opponent to electronic lines calling in tennis.

“We have it even though we don’t need it,” he said but that soccer “should have it and they don’t. I do struggle with soccer because there’s so many mistakes from umpires.”

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