"Good start, of course. Good result. Yeah, of course I did things very well, and other things that I have room to improve. But you are not at all times happy, of course?" Nadal said. "It's a good start for me, that's it."
To make matters better (or worse, for the players in his draw), the conditions the first week of Wimbledon—where Nadal has been so vulnerable before—are playing a little differently during the recent hot, sunny weather.
"I think the grass, on Wimbledon here, this year I see the grass a little bit longer than usual," Nadal said. "I don't know if because there is unbelievable weather and they are trying to protect the grass like this."
The grass is traditionally cut to precisely 8 mm, but without the usual summer rains, it's plausible that the court is playing differently, and even bouncing a little higher. Wimbledon's head groundsman Neil Stubley said the grass length is the same as always.
In his routine first-round victory over Sela, Nadal's confidence and comfort on the grass showed in a shot that may stand firmly as the shot of the tournament—no matter what transpires over the fortnight.
