Wimbledon 2014: Rafael Nadal v Mikhail Kukushkin match preview

A look ahead to the third-round match in the men's singles

Rafael Nadal shows his relief after coming from behind to beat Lukas Rosol (GETTY IMAGES)

Hoping to win his third title at the All England Club, Rafael Nadal takes on Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the third round.

For Kukushkin, it is his best Wimbledon so far as he has never managed to go past the first round before. It is his 14 Grand Slam and if he beats Nadal he will equal his best result from 2012 when he played in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

The players have met twice before with Nadal proving unbeatable of both occasions. It is however, the world no.1 who struggled more en route to the third round. Nadal was off to a slow start against Martin Klizan in the first round and then had to really pull out his A-game to save himself from a déjà vu defeat to Lukas Rosol.

Meanwhile, Kukushkin recorded two easy wins against Dudi Sela and Frank Dancevic in straight sets.

The winner will face either Jiri Vesely or Nick Kyrgios, both ranked lower.

START: Saturday, Centre Court, 1pm

PAST MEETINGS…

2012 Monte Carlo (Clay), Nadal won 6-1, 6-1

2010 Bangkok (Hard), Nadal won 6-2, 6-3

STATS…

14 – number of Grand Slam tournaments Kukushkin played in and number of Grand Slam titles Nadal has won.

The Spaniard has won 64 career titles in total comparing to Kukushkin’s one.

Kukushkin lost 20 games in the first two rounds of the tournament while Nadal 36.

Nadal has won $70,505,136 in prize money during his career so far, almost 39 times more than his rival.

ODDS…

Kukushkin to win 8.0

Nadal to win 1.05

TV: BBC 2 + BBC 1