Wimbledon 2018: Rafael Nadal explains long-standing grievance with Brazilian umpire after second-round win
Nadal breezed past Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets on Centre Court on Thursday – but was hit with two time violations
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Your support makes all the difference.Rafael Nadal has explained his long-running grievance against umpire Carlos Bernardes.
Nadal breezed past Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets on Centre Court on Thursday – but was hit with two time violations.
The 17-time major champion was warned for taking too long between warming up and starting the match, and then for tardiness when changing shirts before the third set.
Nadal insisted he has no problem with the Brazilian official, but admitted he had previously requested the ATP appoint other umpires to his matches.
“I have no problem with the umpire; I am nobody to say, I don’t want him on my court,” said Nadal, after his 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory that booked a third-round clash with Australia’s rising teen star Alex De Minaur.
“If I believe that somebody’s not doing the things fair with me or was not respectful for me, I just can ask if is possible to have another umpire.
“I can’t say, I don’t want this umpire. I’ve said, if possible, I prefer another umpire on my court.
“It’s something that happened in the past. It’s about what happened in Rio de Janeiro a couple of years ago.
“For me personally it was disrespectful. Not because of time violation.
“But when I made a mistake, I put my shorts on the wrong way round. You cannot force me to change my shorts in front of everybody. That’s not respectful.
“I have no problems with him. I respect when I am slow and I accept these warnings.
“I do my best to be quick. Sometimes I’m not good enough to be that quick. I need my time to think about what to do for the next point, that’s all.”
Number three seed Marin Cilic suffered the shock of the day, slipping to a five-set defeat to world number 82 Guido Pella.
Argentina’s Pella prevailed 3-6 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 to reach the third round for the first time, in a match that swung entirely on its overnight rain delay.
Cilic was two sets to the good when rain struck on Wednesday evening, but surrendered a vital service break in one of the last acts before play was postponed until morning.
Asked if nerves got the better of him, last year’s beaten finalist Cilic said: “I was still focusing on my game; it was nothing in my mind that I have to go far or that I’m obliged to do that.
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