LONDON—Rafael Nadal made a stuttering but rousing return to the grass on Tuesday, beating 41st-ranked Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6–4 6–3 3–6 6–4 in Wimbledon’s first round to begin his campaign for a third Grand Slam title of the year.
The 36-year-old second seed, who has not played at Wimbledon since 2019 and stayed away from warm-up tournaments with a chronic foot problem, looked to be motoring through the match until a series of unforced errors allowed Cerundolo back in.
“It is not a surface that we play very often, especially in my case in the last three years I didn’t put any foot on the grass,” Nadal told the Centre Court crowd….