A cranky Rafael Nadal limps into Wimbledon’s fourth round

Reporting from Wimbledon, England — 

This was a cranky Rafael Nadal, an aching Nadal, a Nadal who asked for a trainer to treat his arm and his thigh, whose dialogue with his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, caused chair umpire Cedric Mourier to twice admonish Wimbledon’s No. 2-seeded player to knock off the chatter.

Coaching from the stands, after all, isn’t allowed.

And still Nadal, the 2008 Wimbledon champion who missed the chance to defend his title last year because of a knee injury, tapped into his reserve tank of energy, took to heart whatever advice he was getting from Uncle Toni and, for the second match in a row, won a five-setter at Wimbledon.

This one, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Philipp Petzschner of Germany on Saturday, puts Nadal into a fourth-round matchup Monday against Paul-Henri Mathieu, one of three Frenchmen who have lasted this long.

That’s one more than the U.S.

Sam Querrey of Santa Monica joined Andy Roddick as the only American men in the fourth round after he eliminated Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 9-7, just before it became too dark to play.

A much-anticipated women’s fourth-round match was finalized when first Serena Williams and then, after a little more effort, Maria Sharapova each won Saturday.

Williams, seeded No. 1 and the defending champion, beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 6-0, 7-5, and then Sharapova, seeded 16th, used almost two hours and withstood bushels of unforced errors to beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-3.

But it was Nadal, whose alternating mood swings and injuries that seemed stacked up as if it were rush hour in the airspace over LAX, who consumed the energy of both the Centre Court fans and of Mourier, who lectured the Spaniard at one point to “stop the coaching.”

Nadal said the warning he received was unfair. “Sometimes in the past Toni talk maybe too much. But not today.”

And although Nadal usually will not admit to any physical problems, he conceded Saturday that all is not well. “I have a little bit of a problem in the right knee,” he said. “I am a little bit scared about the knee.”

Nadal said the knee has been bothering him since he lost to Roddick at Key Biscayne, Fla., in March. “I didn’t like to say anything at that moment because when you lose it looks like an excuse,” Nadal said.

Williams had no excuses for her downcast appearance after she finished off her 68-minute win. Though she had 20 aces, 37 winners and only nine unforced errors, Williams suggested her level needed to get better.

“I just thought I could have played better in the second set,” she said. “I just kind of came off the gas.

“Hopefully, I can keep serving well. But I have to play better than I did today. I’m just glad to get into the second week.”

Williams saved herself from getting into a dangerous second-set tiebreaker by breaking Cibulkova’s serve in the final game. Williams earned her match point with a penetrating backhand return off a second serve and a follow-up forehand put-away. On match point, Cibulkova sailed a nervous forehand wide. Instead of celebrating, Williams shook her head.

Sharapova had more positive on-court reactions after her win. She pumped her fists and slapped her thigh.

Williams leads the series with Sharapova, 5-2, but one of her losses was in the 2004 Wimbledon final when Sharapova made her big breakthrough at age 17, winning her first major tournament. Sharapova hasn’t beaten Williams since the 2004 WTA Tour season-ending tournament, however.

“I love playing against Serena,” Sharapova said. “If there’s a challenge ahead, it’s definitely playing against her. I enjoy that.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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