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Rafael Nadal will be aiming to progress to the 4th round of Wimbledon this afternoon as he takes on Gilles Muller.
The Spaniard is the overwhelming favourite to emerge victorious in this one and it could be a case of damage limitation for his opponent.
The match is third on Court One today and the spectators will looking forward to seeing Nadal at his destructive best. He has been sublime so far this week two, breezing his way towards this third round clash.
As much as the World No.1 is expected to record another comfortable victory this afternoon, Muller does actually have a career victory over Nadal.
The 28-year-old defeated Nadal in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships and this second round defeat for the Spaniard led many to conclude that grass wasn’t a surface he could dominate on.
He has of course quashed this idea since while Muller hasn’t built on this famous victory as much as he should have done.
He clearly has natural talent, but is currently ranked 92nd in the world and has only progressed beyond the third round of a major tournament once in his career.
Nadal is wary of the threat he possesses though. The defeat in 2005 will still be fresh in the his mind and he will want to put things right six years later.
Muller is a powerful player too and one who cannot be taken lightly. Every player can have their greatest day at any time and if Muller has his today then Nadal will have to work very hard to victory.
Perhaps it is more likely that Muller will have his good moments in the match, but ultimately Nadal will have too much for him. A victory for the Number one seed in four sets might be an accurate prediction.
One thing for sure is that Muller will go into the match with the belief that he can at least be competitive.
Whether this is enough for victory is unlikely, but if he puts on a good match for the Wimbledon crowd, he would have played his part in this famous tournament.
With Andy Murray due on court at the same time, this match may take a back seat for many, but it should be watched with interest as Nadal looks to progress against the man that knocked him out of these Championships in 2005.
