Day 6, part 2 Wimbledon

Number 2 Court, Welcome to Wimbledon on this middle Saturday, but I'm

afraid, that's the scene that greets us here on SW19, we've had rain all

day, dark clouds over Wimbledon. Rain has been falling. No play on

the outside courts as yet. But got news is that cloud has moved away.

The covers are off and wre hopeful that play will get under way on the

outside courts very soon. Play gets under way indoors of course. Maria

Sharapova is here. She's on Centre Court. She'll be all smiles, the

French Open champion. Roger Federer also back on his favourite court,

the winner of 79 titles, seven at Wimbledon. He's on Centre Court late

this afternoon. First up is this man, Rafael Nadal. The first time

he's through to the third round in three years. He's come through two

tough battles. Will he have another today on Centre? Rafa arrived just

as the rain came down. He was forced to practice on the indoor courts,

not on the grass. The players are used to this. He wasn't the only

one. Also the top seed in the ladies championship, Serena Williams,

forced indoors. She is on Court No 1. She will be keeping an eye on the

clouds. All the players are here and these are those that we'll be

following today: Alize Cornet beat her in Dubai

earlier this year. Rafael Nadal has dropped sets in his first two

rounds, but the dream of a third French Open-Wimbledon double is

still alive. He faces Mikhail Kukushkin on centre. 200 4 champion,

Maria Sharapova has dropped just four games in her first two rounds.

Today's target is a place in the second week here for the ninth time.

Centre Court is like a second home for Roger. The seven-time champion

will be in action later as he continues his quest for a record

eighth men's tight. -- title. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Centre

Court on this middle Saturday. In keeping with tradition, the chairman

of the All England Club has invited guests from the world of sport to

the Royal Box. First, let's welcome a quartet of cricketing stars,

England's current Twenty20 captain, who only last week, became just the

fourth bowler in history to take two Test hat tricks. A left-arm spinner

who took more than a thousand first-class wickets and

post-retirement is bowling over the world of entertainment. A man who

captained England to Ashes success both at home and down under. And an

Indian batsman who retired last year having scored more international

runs than anyone in the history of the game. Please welcome Stuart

Broad, Phil tough knell, Andrew Strauss and Sachin Tendulkar. --

Phil Tufnell. APPLAUSE

From the world of Rugby Union, a flanker who leads his club side

Harlequins and was made captain of England after just one match. Please

welcome Chris Broadshaw. Of Next we are delighted to be joined by three

stars of the ring, a former heavyweight champion of the world

and two Gold Medallists from London 2012, one made history as the first

ever female Olympic boxing champion. And the other is a super heavyweight

champion who claimed Team GB's final Gold Medal of the Games. It's David

Haye, Nicola Adams and Anthony Joshua.

APPLAUSE From summer Olympics to winters.

Please welcome the slider who four years ago became Britain's first

individual Gold Medallist at the Winter Olympics for 30 years and a

woman who succeeded her as the Skelton champion in Sochi earlier

this year. A skier and her guide who conquered the slopes in the super G

to win Britain's first ever winter Paralympics gold. Amy Williams,

Lizzie Yarnold, Kimi Goole her and Charlotte Evans.

-- KimmyGallagher. At the world's most famous tennis championships it

is only fitting that we should be joined by some stars from racquet

sports. A squash player who in March became the first English female

squash champion since 1999. And from the world of tennis, known as the

quad father, he won singles gold at the 2004 Paralympics and retained

his title four years later in Beijing. The man who earlier this

year steered Great Britain into the Davis Cup quarter finals for the

first time since 1986. And Britain's fed cup captain who has been a

driving force in developing grass-roots ten nis recent years.

Please welcome world champion Laura Macaro, Peter Norfolk, Leon Smith

and Judy Murray. APPLAUSE

From the green grass of Centre Court to greens of a different kind. A

teenager who was the top amateur at last year's Open and a month later

became the first Englishman to win the US amateur title since 1911. And

a man who has been Europe's talisman in recent Ryder Cups, never more so

than two years ago when he sparked one of the most amazing comebacks in

golfing history. Welcome Matthew Fitzpatrick and Ian Poulter.

APPLAUSE Golf will be part of the next

Olympics, but now let's meet some stars, two stars from past Games.

This man has swum five Olympics and is a former world, European and

Commonwealth champion and not a bad dancer either! A legend who spent

his sporting career on top of the water and on top of the podium,

becoming a four time Olympic champion rower, Mark Foster and Sir

Matthew pin sent. -- Pinsent. APPLAUSE

Now two joints from the world of cycling. First a rider who wrapped

up her glittering career in style at London 2012 winning a second Olympic

Gold Medal. We just saw there, winning the first British winner of

the Tour De France, Bradley Wiggins and this is a rider who won a second

Olympic gold in London. Would you please give a welcome to Victoria

pendle ton and Sir Bradley Wiggins. -- Pefd -- Pendleton. Sorry about

that Bradley! Now to two men who have represented both club and

country with such distinction. England's all-time record goal

scorer and a key member of the 1966 World Cup-winning team, who also

played over 600 games for Manchester United and a global superstar and

sporting ambassador who won 115 England caps, a record for an

outfield player, part of a career that included winning titles in four

countries. Please give a Centre Court welcome to Sir Bobby Charlton

and David Beckham. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Today, is the sixth national armed forces day, established to honour

the out standing contribution made by serving and ex-members of the

armed forces, especially poignant in the centenary year of the start of

the First World War. We are privileged to have voluntary

military stewards since 1946, when they helped to re-establish the

championships after the Second World War. Many of the stewards here today

have recently served their country on operational duty all over the

world, showing their professionalism and dedication in the most demanding

of circumstances. To commemorate this occasion and recognise the

continuing support of the families, the chairman and championship

committee have invited representatives of the armed forces

and their partners into the Royal Box. Would you please show your

appreciation for them and all they do and for all of our Royal Box

guests. What a wonderful welcome to Centre

Court on this middle Saturday and so many special guests in the Royal Box

and boy, we have some super stars coming out on Centre Court as well.

First up we have Rafael Nadal, then Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer.

Talking of Rafael Nadal, he hasn't made it easy getting through to the

third round. Here's his trug this week.

-- struggle this week. I feel better than the last couple

of years. It means everything to have the chance to play well here

again. I'm really excited to be back and I'm looking forward to playing.

He comes into Wimbledon knowing that he hasn't won a lot of matches on

grass over the last couple of years. Oh, dear oh, dear, this is a huge

surprise. The volley was a shocker on the penultimate line. Take that!

Martin Klizan, number 51 in the world has taken the first set 6-4.

There's the breakthrough. Four straight points. Nadal makes it a

set all here on Centre Court. The third set is under the complete

control of the world number one, Rafael Nadal. Nadal wins a match on

grass for the first time in two years and he's off and running.

My goal is to win and for sure, this will be another tough one.

COMMENTATOR: Here is Rafael Nadal on Centre Court, anxious for revenge

against Lukas Rosol. Let's see if this Czech can do some damage again.

JOHN MCENROE: A little nervous, I guess. He can't stop hitting

winners. His career Grand Slam record coming into this match is

eight wins, 12 losses. And he's just won the first set. Good times, but

so much work to do. Great return. There it is. Is that the tipping

point? Back in business. Inching towards victory. A huge obstacle

surmounted. My goal is to play well and trying to play as good as

possible in the tournament. It doesn't matter if it's Rosol or if

it's another player. But he beat me in the past, but that doesn't really

matter for mement SUE BARKER: He is through to the

third round. It doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get

there. He's first on Centre Court under the roof. The good news is

those dark clouds are moving away and over on Court No 1 play is just

getting under way. Here comes Serena Williams, the top seed. She is the

bookies' favourite, a heavy favourite. She's up against Alize

Cornet of France, the French number one, who beat her earlier this year

in Dubai. So, she certainly won't be taking this one easy. She's a

five-time champion and she knows how to win here, doesn't she? She has

her game face on by the look of it. Well, we'll join that match shortly

over on BBC Two. But here on one, it's Centre Court all the way, Tim

and Peter are herement I love middle Saturday with all the superstars in

the Royal Box. That atmosphere was fantastic, it really was. You see

all the stars and they look like they're enjoying themselves. They

get the opportunity of all the people in the stadium to Recognise

chair achievements. You're -- recognise their achievements. You're

brilliant at it too! We had a little hiccup with our Bradley Wiggins and

Victoria. It was all right. I reversed it slightly. They are

superstars. They are playing outside but still

have the roof closed. Yeah I suppose we can expect showers through the

day. It will be rough for the players on all the other courts.

What a pleasure for us, though and Rafa, of course, assuming he does

win, will be in the locker room, you know, in short order and be able to

relax for the weekend. When you look at the draw, normally the matches

get tougher as you go ahead, when you look at this, you wonder whether

it isn't for Rafa. He's had two tough matches already. He certainly

has. When you saw his reaction during his second-round match

playing Lukas Rosol, I mean, he's always pumped up. You saw how much

that meant to him. They have previous. They've got history when

Rosol beat him two years ago. For him to come through that test, it

sets him up very well. As Peter says, a big advantage to be on

Centre Court with the roof closed. We don't play on Sunday, so the

match that's don't get finished, it really makes the beginning of the

second week tricky. Also, when you look at the head to head, it doesn't

look so good for his opponent. No, a year ago he was ranked 324 having

just had double hip surgery! It sounds like John Lloyd! He's ranked

now 60-something and that says a lot for what he's been able to do, but

can he go that much further today? That's a big ask. I think when you

look at also Rafa, the fact he's only had one match on the grass,

he's exhausted after the French Open. Sometimes the opening rounds,

he's getting used to the feel of the grass and what he has to change.

Yes, definitely. For his style of play, the technique he has with his

extreme grip on the forehand and for the grass, when it's a little bit

greener early on, this is when he's at his most vulnerable, perhaps the

first two matches. Having had four really good days of weather, the

courts are drying out. They're getting firmer. He looks like he's

ready and raring to go. The sport stars will love watching him as

well, no doubt admire all the players on Centre Court today. Here

they come. APPLAUSE

That's a special welcome too. Because everyone is in their seats

for that sports stars parade, they've given a massive welcome.

That's good. That sends the old goose bumps up. Definitely, this is

an environment that he's not so used to. I think that's where Rafa can

use it to his advantage. He's always looking to get out to a fast start.

Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it unfolds. It is so

loud, isn't it, with the roof shut. It just reverberates. It's And so

fun. Warm as well. It's going to get a lot warmer as this goes on. This

Kukushkin, who coaches him? Is it his wife? Yes! And apparently she

couldn't get a visa to come here. So he's on his own. He's doing all

right without her. We talked about Andy having a female coach, what

about having your partner coaching you - that can't be easy? It would

be a recipe for disaster, personally. No, each to their own.

That's the beauty of an individual sport. You're in charge of your own

destiny to a certain extent. If that works for him, then great. It's

pretty unusual to be coached by your uncle, I don't know how many players

have relatives that coach them, but you look at Rafa, it's the only

coach he's ever had and he hasn't done too badly. Uncle Tony always

play it's He does down. . He's a very low-key guy, at least in the

public eye. But I guess that whole family angle just, they're so

grounded. Certainly, yeah, he's done OK. They walked out about three

minutes ago, they still haven't got to the coin toss. This is the ritual

that Rafa goes through. He always has the labels on the bottles facing

the end that he's going play. Three bottles on the go, one with an

electrolite drink, get his head band sort and finally his pants. David

sitting in the front row next to the chairman and Bradley Wiggins the

other side. Boy, it's lovely to see them in the Royal Box. Here we go,

coin toss time. Please remember the time between

points. Any questions? Heads or tails? Heads. Tails. Re? Have a good

one, thank you. They look like a couple of prize fighters. Off he

goes. Love that. We talk about Rafa's injuries but

I'm worried about Kukushkin and all the tape he has on his legs. That's

right, you normally see Rafa with the knees taped just below the

patella. I think it's one to watch out for. I'm not sure about that,

Rafa, for the last year-and-a-half, hasn't worn the tape. He just

decided last year when he came out and said to stop wearing the tape

in. His first-round match against Klizan, it looked like he was

hurting. His knees or something looked sore. That's something to

watch out for today. He ran like a Jack rabbit during the points. But

in between, he was walking slowly. It's bizarre really because you

think that on grass it would favour his knees a bit softer. But maybe

with the bending and maybe the sliding, he doesn't find it so

comfortable. Guys, thank you very much. We're all ready for this

third-round match. Peter's off to the commentary box to join David

Mercer. We're really looking forward to a very fine match indeed.

On this special armed forces day in front of a selection of sporting

celebrities. The roof firmly shut, which means that it will remain shut

throughout the course of the match, even though play is getting under

way on the outside courts as well. The protocol here is once you start

under the roof, you finish under the roof. Rafael Nadal, of course, 14

major titles to his name. A terrific year so far. Winning in Doha, Rio

ma, drid and the French Open -- Rio, Madrid, and the French Open. The

world number one seeded number two because he's struggled at Wimbledon

in recent years. Indeed, this is the first time for three years that he's

made it through to the third round. That's why his seeding is number

two. Those nine wins at Roland Garros. Twice here the champion in

2008 and 2010. Runner up three times as well, twice the US Open champion

and just one win in Australia. Martin Klizan took the first set and

Lukas Rosol, the man who beat him a couple of years back, did exactly

the same. Nadal has had to work pretty hard over five-and-a-half

hours. I'm sure Rafa's a very familiar site to you. I doubt too

many of you have seen this man before, Mikhail Kukushkin, who was

born in Russia. He's 26. Now he lives in Kazakhstan. He changed

nationalities in 2008. He played Davis Cup for Kazakhstan now. You

can see his record at Wimbledon is modest,

can see his record at Wimbledon is two and two. In fact, come intoing

this year's championships he had never won a match at Wimbledon. The

world ranking of 63 and as Peter was saying, September and October of

2012 he had hip surgery on both hips. As a result, his ranking fell

all the way down to 324 in June of last year, couldn't even get into

qualifying for Wimbledon. So to be back up in the 60s is a remarkable

achievement. Can you see, he hasn't dropped a set. Whereas Nadal has

taken five-and-a-half hours, Kukushkin's only been on court for

three hours and 17 minutes. So, he's fresh as a daisy, Peter, mind you,

when you come to the head to heads, it's not quite so favourable for the

Kazakhstani. PETER FLEMING: No, certainly not. Well, let's face it,

once you get into the third, Fourth Round of this tournament, probably

any tournament really, Nadal starts to come into his own. He starts to

hit the ball with a little more authority, a little more confidence

and you know, he's a difficult proposition for anybody, let alone a

guy who's just making his way back into the upper echelons of the game.

So Kukushkin, I'm sure, must be thinking - so, what do I do now?

How's this going to work? Kukushkin making his first appearance on the

Centre Court. He's actually been coached by Anastasia, who is now his

wife, since 2009. Obviously, they started working together - as we

look at our umpire - they started working together in 2009 and

clearly, the relationship works on and off the court because they got

married in November of 2011. It's funny, there are three men left in

the draw who are coached by ladies. One is Kukushkin, and one is Denis

Istomin, who is coached by his mother and the other is, of

course... No idea! Come on, you have, Andy Murray! Who (! ) This is

clearly a growing trend. Perhaps. Perhaps a growing trend. I mean they

can't get much smaller, can it? Yes, I'm sure it will grow, as time goes

on. Well, the Spanish didn't have much to cheer about in the football,

did they? But they're here in force today. There is uncle Tony in the

white cap. I have to tell you that he is really struggling physically.

His back's gone. At the start of the week, he could hardly walk. He's

talking there to Carlos Costa, the agent of Rafael Nadal and was a

top-ten player. Sir Bobby, what a great player he

was. 600 appearances for Manchester United plus, of course, 1966. In

front of him another generation of Manchester United heroes. The winner

of this match will play a wildcard. They play either Nick Kirios or the

Czech. They were given wild cards into the tournaments. Wildcards have

a habit of doing well. A few years ago they gave GoranIvanisevic a

wildcard and he won the title. I'm not sure if they have a habit of

doing well, but one of the reasons they get wildcards is they're in top

form and ranking hasn't caught up to them. But it is, though, pretty

incredible that you have two wildcards both playing one another

in the third round. You may have picked up that Rafael

Nadal won the spin of the coin and he chose to receive.

So important you feel for Kukushkin to start well.

Just 89mph that second serve. Nadal was onto it so quickly.

indicator of thatted's confidence. The point before, he just ripped,

the winner return tells us that she's starting to settle in.

that a few compatriots supporting him.

Not easy to get into a slug -fest with Rafael Nadal.

Not a tall man by modern tennis standards, exactly six foot, Mikhail

Kukushkin. That is a good start for Kukushkin

who has won one title on the ATP tour, in Saint Petersburg in 2010.

There is Henman Hill, everybody settling down. I hope you don't get

wet, those clouds are looking ominous. Have a great day out there.

Nice and dry in here, everybody! Do you want is to get out of the ground

is alive tonight? Ian Smith on the left and Judy Murray on the right,

Britain's Davis Cup and Fed cup captains.

What is that? Water polo meets tennis?

It is difficult hitting into a slug -fest with Rafael Nadal, but I think

players now feel that they don't have a choice. If you hit short

slices, he just pummels them. You don't want to get into a slug

-fest with those two, Peter. Joshua David Hay and Chris Adams, and the

first female in the Olympic Games in boxing, Nicola Adams.

Well, Kukushkin is dreaming if he thinks he is going to be able to hit

a sliced past Nadal. Nadal, six foot one and one of the quickest guys who

ever lived. A very difficult guy to pass, defends that beautifully.

Kukushkin has settled into the match very well.

He's made it! That was an extraordinary angle. Andy Murray

would've been proud of this one, and he's probably got the best forehand

crosscourt pass of anyone. Well, love service game there the

Mikhail Kukushkin. I was getting a little Jane on him, and they were

saying that he was one of the quietest guys on the tour, very

unassuming and shy. But a lovely ball striker. Absolutely. It seems

there is a trend developing. More and more players are realising that

their only chance against Nadal is to hit powerful drives up the line,

the Nadal often likes to cheat into the corner, and if you have an

opportunity to rip them up the line, you can hit winners against him, or

even backhand crosscourts into his forehand.

UMPIRE: Time. So it puts a premium on ball

striking, but Kukushkin appears to perhaps be, well, well suited to the

task. 119 mph, that serve, made all the

more difficult to return by all of the spin on it. It really swung into

Kukushkin's body. And that lovely variety, because that one was kicked

out wide, away from his body, so not allowing the Kazakhstan player to

settle into a rhythm. Carlos Acosta having a sip of

something or other. Top ten player himself from Spain, and now the

agent of Rafa Nadal. Not a bad job to have.

UMPIRE: Game Nadal. Two games all, first set.

Rafa's prize money in his career is now over 70 million US dollars. So

the agent's percentage must be quite pleasant. Come on! He won't get 1

cent of his prize-money! He didn't do it for nothing, you know. Even a

tiny percentage of his endorsements would make him a wealthy man.

That was a rocket! That backhand barely had two revolutions of spin

on it. That was an interesting play from

Nadal, kept the ball very low. He is looking at the umpire, and has

decided to do the war cry. -- Hawk-Eye. It was pretty close.

This umpire took charge of the French Open final, Rafa beating

Djokovic. Wonderful defence from Nadal.

Kukushkin through the kitchen sink at him. -- threw the kitchen sink.

And again, he kept the ball very low, forcing Kukushkin to heated up

over the net. UMPIRE: Kukushkin leads three games

to two, first set. Huge hitting off the ground from

Kukushkin. You would never guess that prior to the East

Championships, he had never won a match at Wimbledon. Now then, one of

the reasons why Rafa finds it harder on grass than on clay is obviously

his huge forehand top-spin, the ball really rears up on a clay court,

gets very high indeed. On grass, it flattens out much lower. He has

driven Roger Federer bananas over the years, Roger trying to play his

single-handed backhand up around his ears. It stays lower on a grass

court. But also that is by design. Rafa hits the ball with less spin on

a grass court, because he has better results when he pushes his

opponents back, when he is more aggressive.

UMPIRE: Time. Those high balls don't grab the court is well on a grass

court. So opponents can attack them easier. So he hits the ball

inordinately hard. On this court surface, much harder than he does on

clay. Superb!

APPLAUSE Come on, he might not hit four

shots in a row that crisply again in his life.

It was a case of hard, harder, hardest.

You get chosen to play on this Centre Court at Wimbledon, and

suddenly, new sponsors patches appear on your shirt.

UMPIRE: Game, Nadal. Three games all, first set.

Whyte first ace of the match, for Nadal,.

The first ace for Nadal, and everybody thought this would be a

gentle stroll for him, but Kukushkin is giving him the match.

That is just extraordinary hitting. It really is apparent that Kukushkin

came into this match with a clear strategy, and he said, I am not

going to let this guy push me around.

Well, that return right back at Kukushkin before it even recovered

from the service action. It is amazing how hard Rafa can hit

it given the extreme rip he uses. He's a contortionist.

It was there, just fractionally long.

And once again, Nadal exhibiting the touch that he has around the net. He

is one of the game's better volley is.

Smiles that indicate people saying, I haven't heard of this guy, and

he's really good. That was the third deuce, longest

match of the game so far. Once again, Kukushkin scoring with

the down the line drive. UMPIRE: New balls, please. Kukushkin

leads four games to three, first set.

Terrific backhand from Kukushkin. It looks as though Nadal was back in

control of the rally. Once he anticipated the shot just prior to

that. Now, let's have a look at the total winners. Kukushkin really

going for his shots out here, twice as many winners as Nadal. Of course,

the other side of the equation is that he is going to make more

unforced error is, but as long as the winners, and he had ten, exceed

the unforced error is, this guy has got a chance. Exactly right, of

course he has. If he can maintain this form, of course he has a

chance. UMPIRE: But that is a big if,

because this guy just sucks the life out of you. Sir Bradley Wiggins,

alongside Sir Philip Brook, chairman of the All-England Club. Bradley

sadly not in the Tour de France this year which starts in Leeds the week

today. Leads to Harrogate is the first leg. My wife comes from Leeds,

and she is very proud of the fact that the tour is starting in her

home city. ever won four games in a set against

Nadal. He hasn't made any real impact on

the Nadal serve. Only won four points so far.

The good news for Kukushkin is that it doesn't entirely matter how well

he plays in every Nadal service game. He just needs to play well in

one. As long as he keeps holding. Wow Plan A - serve out wide, get a

return that is not a winner and then hit into the open court.

that have you to get the first hit in the rally.

Four aces now for Kukushkin. Both men have served 18 aces in the

championships. He just goes straight to the

down-the-line shot almost every time.

His friends thrilled understandably by the way Mikhail Kukushkin has

started this match. You might have thought four-all is getting to the

sharp end of the set, the nerves would set in, but he seems nerveless

so far. So far so good. Yeah, well. I don't know. I think that one set

he's going to come out and just crush the ball. If he gets close to

actually winning a second set, then the nerves will start to escalate.

Of course, the third, yeah, that would be very interesting. It

happened to Lukas Rosol, a set and 4-2 up, a set and set point up. He

couldn't take advantage. Because then you start thinking, well,

actually, I'm up two sets to love and I have a chance to win this. The

instant your mind goes into future mode, you're in trouble.

You have no power in the future or the past. You have to stay right

here, right now. Nadal serving to stay in this

opening set. He lost the first set of his first two match that's

yearment -- year.

Impressive power from Kukushkin here.

He couldn't have struck it much better. He tried to go over the high

part of the net, though. The acoustics with the roof shut are

fascinating. Successive love service games from

Rafael Nadal. Still we await the first break point

of the match, let alone a break of serve. 41 minutes, 5-5.

That shot was a very poor return of a second serve.

Ah, well, there's always the next World Cup.

What's going on? A complete mis-hit and then a really poorly-struck

forehand. I would say that he's not yet in the

zone. He's not striking the ball as purely as he would like.

That's the beauty of Rafael Nadal, he just keeping plugging away.

Eventually, that rhythm seems to come.

Two missed first serves and Nadal has been onto those two.

Hawk-Eye tells us so much more than just whether the ball is in or out.

It's already come up with a little analysis here showing how Kukushkin

is opening up the court by concentrating on Rafa's backhand,

52%, and then, as you pointed out, he's hitting those forehand

down-the-lines, those red dots, those are the winners.

down-the-lines, those red dots, those are Yeah, and those are either

forehands down-the-line or backhand cross-courts.

If Nadal drops the ball short into Kukushkin's backhand, that is an

opportunity to take the ball, because Nadal, you see where the 52%

is, that's where Nadal likes to camp out, in that light-green area. From

there he can hit forehands just about all the time. He cheats into

that direction. If you can pummel a few flat ground strokes into his

forehand then often, you can generate a few winners. Kukushkin

has done that time and again today, at least on his own serve.

Kukushkin in that lovely situation knowing that at worst he's into the

tie-break. Almost a free game here. It's an unsung part of his game

really, the serve for Nadal. He just needs a little foot hold in the

rally and his serve is awkward. It spins and slides. It's hard to get a

purchase on it. He's going to challenge here,

Kukushkin. Judging from the body language he's not overly optimistic.

Nadal going into the tie-break having won the last 15 points on his

serve. He has a winning record in tie breaks this year, 11 won, 7

lost. For Kukushkin, six won, 11 lost.

Nadal has to be the favourite in this tie-break. I don't know,

though. Kukushkin in that rally appeared to back off a little bit.

That's a great return. Immediately the mini-break cancelled out.

Any strategy that you're committed to is better than no strategy at all

or a wishy-washy one. Oh, terrific play! I'd say he's

committed - wouldn't you? ! It's absolutely stunning how hard

all the players in the draw hit the ball off the ground now.

Every point in this has been won with a winner. Rafa must be

thinking, "What's going on here? I played Martin Klizan, exactly this

sort of tennis in set one. Lukas Rosol in set number one, exactly

this sort of tennis. He must be thinking, "What am I a punching bag?

Kukushkin is playing lights-out tennis. This will be the best set

he's played this year. Incidentally, that's what's happening outside, it

is pouring down. Hope you're enjoying it, despite the weatherment

-- weather. At least you've got something to watch.

Incredibly, that's the first point that Nadal has won on serve in the

breaker. Three set points not man who'd never

won a match at Wimbledon until this year.

-- for the man who'd never won a match at Wimbledon until this year.

Is that what you Americans would call a swing and a miss? Yes, I

believe so. He's going to have to come from a

set down again, Nadal. That's fun! I'm not sure if

everybody in here is totally thrilled at that result, but

certainly Kukushkin's box is. It certainly makes for a more dramatic

match than perhaps we were expecting, before this thing started

off. Rafa's going off, presumably for a bathroom break and to change

his shirt. They must be wondering what on earth

is happening to halva at these championships. I tell you what's

happening is that he's up against guys who are playing with no fear,

who are hitting the ball a ton. 17 winners for Kukushkin. Against

unforced errors. So he's playing effective

It did look as though Nadal was dominant in that set. He was.

Certainly on serve. Kukushkin wasn't getting a sniff until the tie-break.

Then he just lit it up. Nadal 11 winners, four unforced errors and

he's thinking, how on earth have I lost that set? I've won more points

than the guy but I haven't won the set. Yeah and so, I guarantee you

one thing, Rafa has not gone into panic mode. Because he's been here

before. He's played against guys who have come out all guns blazing and

he's just waited them out. That's exactly what he will do, because

it's one thing playing lights-out tennis for 57 minutes. As Kukushkin

has here today. It's another thing doing it for two hours, three hours,

then you really start to ask a lot of a guy who doesn't do that week

in, week out. That is the huge advantage that the top players have

is they win every day. They're physically and mentally tough as

nails. You know, you gain more strength physically, well, mentally,

I should say, mentally, emotionally, you gain more strength every time

you win a match, every time you're competing. A guy like Kukushkin will

be playing two, three matches Max in a week. Rafa will be playing five,

six, every week. The big difference, of course, between the majors and

tour tournaments is that here it's the best of five. So, you might, if

it were the best of three sets, Rafa might be worried, but he's thinking,

this guy's got to win two sets to beat them. Exactly right. That is

why the majors are the majors, because the best players invariably

win. They don't always win, but a huge percentage of the time the best

players win. That's why everybody, you know, a victory here is a

massive event because you you know, a victory here is a

massive event because beat the best guy at his almost, when he has the

advantage. You've beaten the house almost.

Oh, dear, that is depressing, isn't it? We were forecast heavy rain. I'm

told it's supposed to get a little drier later. So keep your fingers

crossed, folks. Many of you with your Prince y -- ponchos on.

Come on, David, they're British! Aren't you Brits like seals any way?

It's fun out in the We wouldn't rain. Have the green, green grass of

home without the rain, would we? No, sir.

Right. We are in the second hour of the match and the second set of the

match and Nadal, the second seed, is a set down.

All the noise you can hear is the rain, absolutely lashing down on the

roof. Barely a revolution of spin on

Kukushkin's backhand. It is just a rocket.

What has happened here is that the little trembler device that calls

the let courts has worked its way loose and they are doing a little

adjusting. He'd just asks the umpire, was that

long? Got the little nod, so decided not to challenge. Yes, disappointing

because he struck that immaculately. Thank heavens we do have a roof,

because in a few years' time we will have a roof over Court Number One as

well. Very necessary this afternoon, otherwise we would have just a few

minutes of play. They managed to macro games on Court Number One. --

they managed to macro games on Court Number One. It throws the scheduling

into chaos, doesn't it? You can hear the rain falling. That is a camera

on a hoist. You can see the rain on the lens. The Australians are going

to have three rooms next year, but then they close it rather more for

the heat than the rain. Kukushkin leads the aces count, 6-5

now. Oh, my word. Fortunately, it is out,

but is he all right? Yes. It was a heavy fall. The grass

wasn't too happy, either. He knows what it is like to hit the

dirt after being tripped occasionally.

The power that this man is inflicting it every ball with.

Oh, he has mystic! He played a terrific point -- he has missed it.

That was two inches away from being the best point of the match by quite

some distance. That is an interesting play from

Rafa. Stood upon the baseline, took the second serve early, almost to

say, I can't rally with this guy. This guy is too strong for me from

the back. Better hurt him immediately.

Very nearly found the line with the penultimate shot. You can see Rafa

found it impossible to time that ball properly. With the erratic

bounce. Well, such has been the sustained

quality of this much that inevitably we are going to get or more two

roles. -- lulls. A third love service game of the

match for Rafael Nadal. After an hour and 13 minutes we still await a

break point in this match. Kukushkin, we can have a look, his

aggressive forehand direction. The vast majority, as you have been

going -- as you have been pointing out, going down the line to the

Nadal forehand. Just a few crosscourts. Yes. And the winners,

by and large, have been down the line to the forehand.

Matthew Pinsent, or Sir Matthew, I should call him, talking to the wife

of the chairman of the club, Mrs Brooks. There is Steve Redgrave.

Victoria Pendleton is there. Nicola Adams, just in front of her as well.

Pinsent and Redgrave, you can't separate them, can you? Although

Matthew did stay on and win one more gold medal after Steve had retired.

This is where it gets tough for Kukushkin. It is almost like the dog

days of a match. Early in the second set you have to maintain incredibly

high standard of concentration and intensity.

Another brilliant shot, going down the line on the backhand.

When he gets the first serving, he's winning 76% of the points, Kukushkin

Once again, an adult attacking the second serve. -- an adult attacking

the second serve. Nadal apologising. He did well to

get it back in play but he did not intend this at all.

Kukushkin gave him a dirty look, that is why you have won so many

tournaments, you are lucky! I am sure David Beckham knows that

this is the first break point the match after 77 minutes of play.

And if Kukushkin worried about that? No, just comes up with a massive

serve. And because Kukushkin has gone up

the line so often with that forehand, he froze Nadal there.

Nadal not expecting the crosscourt at all.

No wonder uncle Toni is fidgeting. A second chance.

This guy has such an unquenchable thirst for competition, hasn't he?

Every much he plays, he brings those sorts of emotions to the fore. It is

remarkable. The first break secured. There are a lot of wise

heads. The device is giving us problems again. The wise old heads

will be saying, oh, that is the turning point. He will be all right

now. A bit premature. But it very possibly could be the

turning point. An immediate challenge here. The

call was a little late. That might have induced the challenge.

Well, you wouldn't blame Nadal for saying, what is going on here?

Why aren't you in the top ten, playing like this?

But just in case you haven't noticed, Mikhail, I'm number one!

I think he was hoping that ball would go long.

Well, Nadal's camp will be breathing a little more easily now, after

those three successive games. Kukushkin really have an opportunity

is there to get back at him. Got to 30. Yes, but that is the sort of

pressure that other top players put on opponents. You feel so much

pressure, a 30-30 point. OK, it is not even half an opportunity but you

feel so much pressure that you have to make every one of them. Because

if not, well, you are for-1 down. That is the mental pressure. They

put it on everyone else. They maintain such a high standard that

on the other side of the net you think I've got to be perfect. From

start to finish. And perfection is not easy to maintain. Now, I gather

it is a little better outside. Not quite lashing down as it has been.

But it is a combination of the roof and the giant screen means you can

watch some tennis, even if it is confined to just the one court.

Really starting to struggle behind his second serve now, Kukushkin. The

percentage is dropping. Yes, and Nadal will force a change

of tactics to force Kukushkin to take more risks with the second

serve. Either serve more powerfully, or direct the ball close to the

lines. It will probably induce a few more

double faults as a result. I swear this guy runs backwards

faster than a lot of players run forwards. Watch where he hits this

shot from. The ball is curving. He is outside the tramlines, and yet

still maintains perfect balance. What an athlete he is.

Four games in a row. Serving for the second set.

Now, what is Kukushkin doing? Has he broken string, perhaps? Certainly

changing his racquet. Perhaps hit it off the top of the

frame and the frame cracked a little bit. It can sometimes happen.

surprise. Rafa has dropped the opening set in his two previous

matches. He is going well on centre. Crowd is enjoying the match under

the roof. They're the only spectators at Wimbledon enjoying

their day. On outside courts, there's no play. There's plenty of

brollies on the hill It's been raining heavily. There's been one

shower after another. There's no play until at least 3. 30pm on

outside courts that. Means all sorts players, scheduled here with their

third-round matches, will to sit wait. Many of them will be force

come back and finish those on Monday. That is scene outside. We

are guaranteed tennis here at Wimbledon, I'm delight say. After

Rafael Nadal completes his match, have:

Peter you were saying that this man brings this amazing competitive

intensity to matches. When you were playing, I suppose if you could

choose one guy to play for you, it would have been Jimmy conners, the

ultimate street fighters, but this man equals him in terms of the sheer

joy he gets from competing. It's extraordinary. He's won nine French

Opens. Wouldn't you have thought that at some point, he'd get a

little bored? Or, well, tired. It just doesn't seem to have happened

ever. It's not all peaches and cream out there either. There's another

man who thrives on match play. Ian Poulter, put him in a Ryder Cup

shirt and he's a different man to a stroke play competition. He loves

that head to head. Shame about his fashion sense, but never mind.

No-one's perfect. I'd cash his endorsement cheques

though. The start of this set very important

for Kukushkin, having lost five games in a row. He cannot afford to

let Nadal get away from him early in the third set.

The good news for Kukushkin is that it's an entirely new contest here as

we start the third set. The bad news is he hasn't start today that well.

That's nasty when you try to slide on this surface and it doesn't react

the way you expect that. Was very exlos to a hyperextended knee.

I think he'll be thrilled he got out of that with just a heavy fall.

Oh, goodness, how did he worm his way out of that rally?

You don't want to be trapped on the ropes by Nicola Adams.

Rafa was in all kinds of trouble during that rally.

Come on Tony, you can smile. Things are getting better.

If you were going to be hyper critical of Kukushkin in the

penultimate rally when he had Rafa running from side to side, he could

have moved forward for an easy volleyment It's easy to say that,

but how many times have we seen Rafa ten feet behind the baseline rip

winners, when you least expect them? It's takes a lot of guts to come

into net, especially on a ball that's in the open court, that he's

about to hit a forehand off of. You're right, in hindsight, he

probably could have finished the rally from the forecast. --

forecourt. It's not easy to force yourself to doment

-- do. All the momentum now behind this man.

He watches a lot of tennis during this fortnight, that's for sure. If

you're the chairman of the club, it's required.

5-0 -- five love-service games for Rafael Nadal now.

Leon Smith, of course, the Davis Cup captain and one of Andy Murray's

original coaches. We haven't seen many of those in the

last half an hour. Ungur forced error from Nadal.

Flexing the knee after that, as if that fall has hurt him a little bit.

Even Nadal has had a little lull in this game.

Snaps out of it pretty quickly, though.

The angle he develops here! You do not want to drop shot Rafael

Nadal unless it's absolutely perfect.

Yeah, as soon as Nadal saw Kukushkin approach the ball with the racquet

face open, he was off. Relief for Kukushkin, as he wins his

first game in eight. He came onto court with the strapping on the

knee, which suggests he's maybe got a little bit of tendonitis. Fall was

a nasty moment, as you poipted out, Peter. -- poirnted. -- pointed out.

His knee bent backwards. That will have scared him. It could have been

game over right there. But the knee appears all right. The

bigger problem for him, well, he's got a couple: Number one, Rafael

Nadal is starting to get a full head of steam. Number two, Kukushkin, at

some point, probably in the not too distant future, will start to

fatigue. Perhaps that process is further down the road from a mental

perspective than a physical one. I'm sure this guy can run all day. But

mentally, it gets more arduous to maintain that high level of

concentration intensity the longer you go, when you're in such

pressurised circumstances. You suspect the young lady there is

one of the juniors, their competition gets under way today.

Sign him up for the cricket team, if he can catch like that!

Sachin Tendulkar wouldn't like a catch like that in the slips if he

ever slipped one, not that he ever did.

Catching was never Phil Tufnell's strength. He could spin the ball

pretty well. Where do you approach the net with

this guy? He's so quick. He had quite a shot on him, bobby

Charlton, with that left foot. He played brilliantly for an hour

and a quarter, but it's all fading away for Kukushkin now.

Ace on the second serve. You said he would have to go for more. That's

the first time we've seen him kick it out that way to the Nadal

forehand. Kukushkin has stopped. He thinks the

ball was out on his baseline. Now then, the umpire is on the

telephone to Hawk-Eye. Because he thought there might have been a

malfunction. It There wasn't. Just was a false alarm. What happens

incidentally, if there is a malfunction, the original call

stands. Last night in that Cilic win over

Tomas Berdych, it got so dark that Hawk-Eye could no longer work, there

wasn't enough light for it. There's one of the cameras that

Hawk-Eye works off. Again, beautiful little volley here

from Rafael Nadal. Peter, if I can be presumtive and say, look, it

appears now that Nadal is through the crisis and it's plain sailing,

what's better for a player, going into a second week of a major, to

have played three matches in which he's had to come from behind? Or

three very straightforward matches, as Andy Murray has done, winning

them all comfortably in straight sets? I asked that question to

Johnny Mac every day, and he said he would take two, two and two every

time. He would rather an easier match. But what doesn't kill you

makes you stronger. Nadal certainly is a lot stronger than he was coming

into this event. He's played against three guy who's have come out all

guns blazing and really have pushed him around. They've said, you know

what, I can play with you. But in the last half an hour, Nadal has

shown us why he is such a great player. Why he's probably still the

best player in the world. That is a guy like Kukushkin, he has to red

line his game. He's got to play to the very best of his ability

throughout. If he drops off 5%, that's enough for Nadal to usurp

him, just to start inhibiting what Kukushkin wants to do and pulling

away. That's exactly what he's done now. As you say, it looks pretty

smooth sailing from here. Can Kukushkin regroup and put together

another challenge? I don't know. David Tennant is here. A very fine

actor, former Doctor Who of course. Ace number nine for Nadal. More

importantly, 70% first serves in play.

Kukushkin now struggling win points behind the first serve, let alone

the second. He will want to hold this service

game. At the very least, he forces Nadal to serve out for this third

set, so that Kukushkin can start off the fourth.

Nadal is just getting stronger and stronger. Yeah, and with a lead like

this, there's no pressure on him to actually need to put the ball into

play. So he's just free wheeling. SUE BARKER: It's one-way traffic now

on Centre Court, all Rafael Nadal. He is in charge. We'll be back with

the fourth set in a moment. But while everyone's enjoying the tennis

on Centre Court, they're not having as much fun outside. Many are

watching the tennis on the hill, but that's the only tennis they're going

to be watching. The rain is still falling. The forecast is not good

for this afternoon. But they're still sitting in their seats, still

hoping. Probably some of them here at Wimbledon for the very first time

and this is their experience. Hopefully they'll get some tennis.

Andy Murray has had some tennis though. He's been here earlier

today. He was on the practice courts, indoors though, not at the

outdoors. He arrived after the rain came down. He's smiling, on his way

home. He got the job done last night. He'll be back next week to

play Kevin Anderson. Will it be on Monday or will it be Tuesday?

Because with so many matches held over from today, if the forecast is

right, that's going to be a big talking point around the club. But

no problem for Centre Court and we've got plenty of tennis to enjoy,

because there's also Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer still to come.

Let's enjoy watching Rafa and the start of the fourth set.

Some lovely shots of Nadal now in absolutely full flight. I was

thinking, of course, Rafael Nadal would expect to play, assuming he

goes on to win from here, his fourth-round match on Monday. But,

if the other match doesn't take to the court today, that doesn't

happen. They're not going to make us work on a Sunday, are they? No.

Well, he'll have to wait till Tuesday. His opponent will have to

play two days in a row. Tom Daley would feel at home in this sort of

weather, I guess. Terrific diver on the left. Another seal! He doesn't

mind the wet weather. Where I come from, west Wales, it's

a fact of life. I want to see signs from this man

that he still believes. I'm not sure he does. It would be understandable.

realise that he has got to make a huge effort here, just to get back

into the match. Once again, than the dull slice

serve -- the Nadal slice serve, opening things up for him. OK, fine,

Nadal held serve to love there. This, the most important game for

Kukushkin, if he is going to make any sort of a challenge.

That is rather nice! Hedging his bets with his favourites, I

suppose, with those T-shirts. The fabulous four, Nadal, Djokovic,

Federer and Murray. Not the fastest serve, but excellent

placement. And that has been the change. As

soon as Nadal stepped up into the court and started punishing

Kukushkin's second week of service. It has been one-way traffic.

Those were the rallies that Nadal was losing in the first set. Not any

longer. Stuart Broad, of course. Didn't even realise he'd got a

hat-trick against Sri Lanka. Extraordinary.

There, the shake of the head. The body language is flat now.

It is wide. Nadal breaks. 13 of the last 14 games have been won by

Rafael Nadal. All the alarms of the opening set are now totally

forgotten. You don't really need the shades on

under the roof, do you, sir? He is hung over!

Well, that time he got around it. Hasn't happened often over the last

couple of sets. Hasn't faced a break point yet in

this match, Nadal. The first time he has been down 0-30.

Two hours and ten minutes it has taken him to get to this, break

points. A second serve to take advantage of

a break point. Yes, those unforced errors have

really mounted. Well, a little pick-up overcome by

Rafer, in his remorseless progress continues. Yes, that just might have

been the last gasp from Kukushkin. Two Test match captains together,

Andrew Strauss and Sachin Tendulkar. I am not sure their exchanges out in

the middle were always as pleasant as that. He looks as if he has been

on the receiving end of some Mitchell Johnson bounces for the

last hour, bruised and battered and bewildered.

The memories of how well he played in that first set, particularly in

the tie-break, are fading. Yes. It is not a happy place to be right

now. For Kukushkin. It is almost as though he has got to play out this

string, you know. He must surely think, well, all right, maybe a

miracle can happen. Maybe I can pull something together. Maybe Nadal will

get injured. I have got to just keep out here as as possible. -- as long

as possible. And if the worst comes to the worst, there is a cheque for

?73,000 waiting for him in the prize-money office.

You have got to feel for Kukushkin a little bit. I feet -- I have a

feeling that need is not 100% any more. -- knee.

UMPIRE: Kukushkin is challenging the call on the line. The ball was

called out. A good challenge again. Nadal is

amazed. UMPIRE: Replay the point. He can't

believe it. He is saying, is that the right replay? He was convinced

it was well out. Just a little fatigue, that is all

that is required to send those sorts of shots awry.

As you were saying, Peter, there is as much mental fatigue because he

hasn't been able to sustain the incredible quality of his play in

the first set, understandably. At some point he has started to lose

confidence. Yes, that sort of kick seven --

second serve, not good enough, it bounced up in the hitting zone.

Oh, well done. Extraordinary defence again.

This sort of point was commonplace in the first set. Where have they

gone? This is a nightmare, when you are

playing against a guy who is being that aggressive on returns.

Well, at least he is still fighting and that is good to see. The fifth

deuce, four break points saved. As always, the Centre Court crowd

very knowledgeable, giving Kukushkin a big hand. They know how tough it

has been for him in the last hour. Ever since he dropped serve for the

first time in the match in the fourth game of the second set.

Again, hitting a winner from way outside the doubles tramline. He has

a new friend, Kukushkin. Peter, how do you hit that angle?

How does one hit it? I sure as hell don't. That he is able to hit that

ball is accurately as he does, moving backwards, at such speed,

incredible. The force of his will is absolutely

colossal. So 4-1, and Rafael Nadal having been

out hit, to be honest, in the first set and in particular in the first

set tie-break, he is now utterly dominant. I suppose there is the old

adage of being played into form and his form now is awesome. It has

really been the pattern, hasn't it, throughout Roland Garros. There were

a number of matches that he looked as though he was off-colour to start

off, and then just war opponents down. That has been the case in all

three of his matches here at Wimbledon. And so the real question

is can one of the other top guys, can Djokovic or R Murray, or whoever

else comes up against him, manage to maintain the required level of play?

Long enough to let's say when two sets. Sir Trevor, he is an avid

tennis player. I see him out here all the time. A member of the Club.

That is the Members Stand. He loves his tennis, loves his cricket of

course. I love the way on some backhands

Rafer will rip through them flat, on the short angle. He had a lot of

brush up on it. Top-spin, creating the angle.

For the double break. -- three break points for the double break, which

will surely decide this match. Ever the perfectionist, ever the

competitor. This is the reaction to getting the double break. Just

yelling at his team and saying, OK, problem solved. Serving for the

match. Oops. That wasn't a bad bounce, was

it? I am not sure if it was due to the court, or due to the line. But

yes, it most certainly was. Just missed it.

UMPIRE: Kukushkin will challenge the call. The ball was called out.

Kukushkin challenging. Pete Sampras - a blast from the

past. We may have anticipated some 6-1

sets, but we didn't anticipate the set at the start. Nadal's had to

come from behind in all three matches in week one. The smile tells

you, he's into week two. That up the matly is all that matters. Yeah, and

ultimately his camp, his followers will be thrilled with his progress

through. He's come up with three inspired opponents, but none of them

have been able to stay with Nadal for more than a set. He's through

imperiously to week number two. He must begin to become the favourite.

Well, come on! You've got plenty more shirts.

I think he's feeling pity on the crowd. Nice to see Rafa applauding

his opponent off. Kukushkin can look back on a week in which he won two

matches at Wimbledon for the first time, nice bit of prize money. His

ranking will certainly improve. Ever the perfectionist. His preparation,

his water bottles and collecting all his stuff afterwards. Bradley will

know all about great preparation. Great champions recognising the

performance of a great champion, those final three sets. Quite

extraordinary. So, he will play either Nick Kirios or YuriVesily.

The earliest they could play, the winner this afternoon match, against

Nadal would be on Tuesday. We may have a big change of

second-week scheduling as a result no play. Yeah, perhaps not ideal,

well not ideal for anyone really. Nadal, I suppose, would have, would

feel a lot better about his position simply in that he is through. Yeah,

and if he gets an extra day off, that's not the end of the world, is

it? It's a shame this guy is not popular

(! ) What's so nice about our game is that the guys at the top of it

are such nice men. A lovely souvenir to take away. He's

going to stay there all day. You're my hero.

Well, he's almost finished his work for the day. Except he has about

another hour to do of all the various press conferences. He'll

have to do all the television interviews. He'll talk fluently in

English and Spanish. The ball kids just get a moment's relaxation

before they will be back to work. It's Maria Sharapova and the fans

can disect it all and say, we were there, we watched our hero. But

don't bring those hats again. They really don't suit you, nothing

personal. I suppose at least it guaranteed their getting on the

telly. All right, how are we going to celebrate tonight? A few

cervesas? Perhaps a vino tinto as well. Rafa's first job is to chat to

our man Rishi. Well done. The first set took almost

an hour, but you then sped through the next three sets, which you won.

You won the match. What changed after that first set? I think at the

beginning, he was playing no mistakes, very aggressive. Hi a few

mistakes with the second serve of him. I make a few unforced errors

with that second serve. That led to the tie-break. In the tie-break I

didn't serve my best that. Was the real thing what happened and without

serving your fwhest a tie-break -- your best in a tie-break. You had a

couple of slips and falls, how is the body? He is normal, no? The

first week, normally the court is more slippery than in the second

week. Especially in days like today, a little bit more humid, when the

sunshine is there, it's a bit more dry. But that's part of the game and

physical performance looks good. That's the most important thing for

me. I finished all the matches playing better than what I started.

That's always You've come positive. From behind all week. How well set

do you feel for the second week of Wimbledon? You never know, but I'm

very happy to be in the second week again, after two years losing in the

first and second rounds. Playing well, good speed, fighting for every

ball and finding, trying to find the right solutions during the game.

That's what I did. I think I finished playing Lovely inter well.

Action with the crowd at the end as well. How much do you enjoy that and

how much do you enjoy your reaction when you take your shirt off and

they scream for you? Well, the crowd always is very special, around the

world, no, but here in London, I always have very good connection

with the people here and playing the Centre Court always makes me feel

very emotional and unbelievable memories of this court and the

crowd, always have been amazing. Thanks a lot to them because when

I'm able to play here, they make me feel very Well done special. Today.

Good luck next week. Thank you. SUE BARKER: What a gracious

champion, as we saw with the autographs, he's such a giving

player as well. That's why the crowds love him and they support

him. He's through to the second week, what a relief after the past

two years here. Joy in the Nadal camp and uncle Tony absolutely

delighted because Rafael Nadal is through to the second week and

through to the Fourth Round. And a souvenir or two for the crowd.

They're the lucky ones today, because they're the only ones who

are watching any tennis. It's raining outside. Yes, they were the

loudest supporters of all. But Rafa is through. Tracey and Lindsay are

watching with me here, quite an atmosphere. It's great. I love it.

Because the sun, it's pretty light, it's coming through. Due mention the

sun? ! It's light, and Rafa has to be happy that he's getting through.

Everybody else is biting their finger nails. Serena is 1-1 in the

first set. Rafa another slow start. He lost the first set for the third

match in a row, but then he got so much better and became more

aggressive, more returning particularly on the backhand Doesn't

matter side. As long as he wins the match. The motivation he's come in

this year, after not doing well the last two years is remarkable. He's

treated all three of these first rounds, the first, second and third

round like they were finals. He's put it with his emotion, every time

he wins, he's so excited to be in the second week here. After his

performance this week, I wouldn't be surprise today he's gone up in the

odds for the title. Rafael Nadal departs to the locker room. Maria

Sharapova and Allison Riske are heading to Centre Court. They're

delighted to be able to play today. Here comes the champion of ten years

ago, Maria Sharapova. APPLAUSE

So Maria Sharapova back on Centre Court. She loves this court. But

she's up against Allison Riske of the United States. We will hear more

about her in just a moment. They are the lucky ones, because this is the

scene outside around Wimbledon. There's only been about ten minutes'

play here today, so for all of the thousands of people that have queued

for a long time to get into Wimbledon are really just watching

the rain come down. A few lucky ones on the Hill watching the big screen.

They're watching the play on Centre Court. But not pleasant conditions

for them to have their picnic up on the Hill. Earlier on BBC Two, we

showed you a challenge we did with our colleagues in Brazil. It was

Wimbledon versus Brazil, a keepy-uppy challenge. Here is the

leaderboard. Now it's time to see the British

number one. Come on, Andy. Watch this, Seedorf with a tennis

ball. I'm about to have a poor attempt at

the challenge, not for lack of trying, but just for technique.

# Let's get ready to rumble # Let's get ready to rumble

# Watch us wreck the mic # I'm not going to get better than

that, I don't think. There he is, right to the top of the

leaderboard by a huge margin. It's advantage Wimbledon and I think

that's going to be unbeaten. Wasn't that impressive. So impressive! It

didn't look like he was trying. He made a couple of saves in the net as

well. Get away from the net at all times. A little bit less effort that

Petchey was doing. Jumping all over. Looked like he was doing the

can-can. I think David Beckham would be impressed with that. Lindsay and

I aren't even going to try! Nor am I. We will be washing our hair or

doing something! Back to the match. Oh, just in case you want to have a

go and if you beat Andy or get close, send in a film of you doing

the challenge. Send it to #copa-uppy. Back to the tennis and

Maria Sharapova, great for her again, knowing she's going to come

out and play. This isn't an easy match. It isn't, Allison Riske, her

best surface is grass. . She's been to the semifinals at Birmingham a

couple of times. Her game is suited to the grass. She has a pretty big

serve. She doesn't mind finishing points at the net. The most

important thing is she hits her ground strokes very flat and hard. I

don't think she will be intimidated by the atmosphere here either. She's

a very confident young lady, beat Petra Kvitova at the US Open. Maria

Sharapova is playing very well though. Only lost four games into

the third round. When they win the French Open they're worried about

recovering physically but emotionally. Maria took days off

after that and watched Grigor at Queen's and seems very relaxed come

intoing Wimbledon and very hungry as well. And in that last match, which

was her 40th match win here at Wimbledon, she has a good record

here, but 27 out of 33 points won on the first serve is impressive. And

it will make it easier for Maria today with the roof closed. This is

perfect conditions for Sharapova. The one place I wouldn't want to

play Maria - indoors. She seems to play better tennis. Riske is a great

player, but it's a different level at times when you play the power

tennis of Maria. If she's hitting them deep and continues to serve

well, this could be a match where she's able to dominate with her

power. Very much like Roger and Rafa, there's an aura about Maria on

the court. Definitely. Particularly the way that she wins whenever her

back is against the wall, it doesn't matter if you have Maria and what

score line, she is so respected to have such great mental toughness and

every single points, she reminds me of Rafa on the men's side. Doesn't

matter if it's a first-round match or the semifinals at Wimbledon,

she's so engaged in every point. She never takes off a point or a day in

A tall tennis. Girl though Allison, a good serve. She does have a good

serve. What she does better than anything is she gets down so low.

She uses her legs really well. The grass is normally why she does so

well, she can get it in her strike zone because she bends so W -- Well.

She beat Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, a seeded player. She will

think of this as an opportunity. I talked to her coach, who works with

Allison in the United States and he said she really wants to jam Maria

sometimes and try to expose her movement and get her on the run. She

knows it's really important to get that first strike, because Maria is

so good at getting that first strike with her own serve and with her

return of serve. I was reading quotes from Maria saying that she's

aware of this and she knows she really has to overpower her from the

first More important ball. Ly, this Wimbledon, Maria is relaxed. She won

the French Open two years ago. She seemed overwhelmed here last year,

she was fatigued after the French Open final. She seems more relaxed,

happy about the French, but has settled in nicely for Wimbledon.

When Maria can get off to the one-two combination, a big serve or

big return, it's tough to recover against her in the point. With the

roof closed today and the ball right in her strike zone, that could be

favourable for We will her. Hear more from Lindsay in the commentary

box. Tracey, thank you very much. We are set, next on Centre Court it's

the French Open champion, Maria Sharapova.

Maria Sharapova in the third round here at Wimbledon, Lindsay's on her

way. Good afternoon to Barry Davies. Well, it's a big afternoon for

Allison Riske, ranked 44 in the world and celebrates her 24th

birthday next Tuesday, getting her opportunity to play one of the

greats. Possibly watch the match in perspective in terms of the

different quality between the two players at the start, at least, that

Allison Riske played her first match in the second degree of tennis

competition in 2004. in the second degree of tennis

competition in 2004. A year when Maria Sharapova won her first Grand

Slam title. It was here at Wimbledon.

I think she will echo a bit with the roof closed. Lindsay Davenport has

just joined me. A familiar figure and familiar star we're about to

see. That's a great return there from

Riske. She's going to have to go for her return, especially that second

serve, when she sees one. exploit the movement of Sharapova.

When you try pull her wide, you open the angles for Sharapova.

That's excellent hitting from Riske, who got the upper hand in this rally

with her depth and as soon as she saw Sharapova on her back foot,

behind the baseline, rips the forehand.

We've seen it happen before with Maria, but you can't ask for a

better start than that for Riske. So often we see a player come out to

Centre Court for their first big match out here and be overwhelmed by

the occasion. So, it's always important to get off to a good

start. Look at that, Mrs Gillbrook is the only person in the Royal Box

right In fairness now. , there are a lot of other empty seats, after a

match of such intensity. It's exhausting watching Rafael Nadal.

People need a break. Hopefully they'll come back in.

She's definitely playing with considerable freedom.

Sharapova will tloock break down the forehand of Riske. -- will look to

break down the forehand of Riske. Interesting clench of fist and then

tap of thigh, "Come on", she says to herself.

of our transmission here on BBC One. It's football next from the World

Cup, Brazil versus Chile. That's on BBC One. We're moving the tennis to

BBC Two. We have the conclusion of this match and Roger Federer on

court later. Tennis on two, see you there. Bye-bye..