WIMBLEDON, England – His lefthanded forehand does not bounce as high, his feet do not slide and stop the way he likes, and his serve sits up rather than kicks up. On grass rather than his preferred clay, Rafael Nadal’s game of sprints, spins, and angles looks a lot less imposing to most players, even those ranked outside the top 200.

But grass does nothing to Nadal’s heart, perhaps the biggest and sturdiest, in tennis. One gets the sense that the 20-year-old Spaniard would lace up a pair of skates and play on ice if someone put him to the challenge.

Yesterday, he proved that a two-set deficit on grass was not insurmountable, recovering to defeat unheralded American Robert Kendrick, 6-7(4), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-4. Tomorrow, he’ll have a chance to end Andre Agassi’s final Wimbledon in what might be one of the most memorable matches of the tournament.

But first, Kendrick. For three sets, the 6-foot-3-inch, 185-pound California native carved up Nadal, serving bullets and executing all manner of volleys, whether from a full stretch, off a quick bounce, or just above his shoe tops. His forehand looked slapdash, with too much whip and too little control, yet it mostly produced flat line drives that whizzed past Nadal or twisted the Spaniard’s racket in his hand. Nadal even whiffed on one serve up the middle. When Kendrick saved two break points at 5-6 with an ace (he hit 28 of those) and a wrist-flick of a backhand overhead, it looked as if he might find his way home after three sets.

But Kendrick hesitated on a high backhand volley in the third set tiebreaker, concluding at the last moment that Nadal’s topspin might bring the ball down into the court. His attempt hit the tape, and soon Nadal had pulled ahead 5-1 with a forehand passing shot. Kendrick had a last chance late in the fourth set, with Nadal serving at 4-5, deuce. The Spaniard hit the baseline with a backhand and a volley off the court. Kendrick double faulted to lose the next game and the set, and Nadal never looked back.

“Is exciting match, no?” Nadal said of the prospect of playing Agassi, who defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy, 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-4. Nadal also was animated about the chair umpire,who warned him for taking too much time to serve, and told him he could not ask Kendrick to wait so Nadal could prepare to return (Nadal re-enacted his return crouch, and his surprise, for the press).

“That’s a new rule, maybe,” Nadal said, adding that perhaps referees are looking at him more closely after complaints about coaching from his uncle, Toni,and the slow pace at which he plays.

Agassi, who said he felt more comfortable on court this round than last, praised Nadal for his determination.

“You see a lot of great players that once they take over a point, it’s good night, point’s over,” Agassi said. “That’s what he does really well.”

For the 26-year-old Kendrick, playing to a packed (and fully supportive) stadium was a new feeling. This was just his fourth Grand Slam match, and his first on one of the sport’s premier stages. Last month he won the Challenger-level pro tournament at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, – and he had to qualify for that tournament, too. When Wimbledon began, the former all-American at the University of Washington and Pepperdine University was ranked no. 237 in the world, largely because he missed three months last summer after having surgery on a tendon in his right wrist. He said he gained 17 pounds after the operation and considered calling it a career.

“Hopefully I showed I’m not washed up out there, I’m not too old,” he said.

Kendrick was not the only player on the attack yesterday, continuing what has been a modest resurgence for the volley this first week at Wimbledon (though the results have been mixed for the tactic’s practitioners). Ameri can Mardy Fish earned his second easy win of the tournament, downing Melle Van Gemerden 6-2, 6-0, 6-1. Jonas Bjorkman, still one of the game’s foremost doubles players at age 34, has now reached at least the third round here for the past three years. Ivan Ljubicic and Justin Gimelstob spent many minutes at the net, with Ljubicic prevailing in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(1), 7-5.

On the women’s side, Lisa Raymond nearly serve-and-volleyed her way to the upset of the tournament against Venus Williams.The 32-year-old American took the first set and charged ahead 5-2 in the second before Williams cranked up her backhand and captured the set with five straight games. Raymond missed too many first serves down the stretch, losing 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2.

Credit the close score to Raymond rather than a barrage of Williams errors, as is often the case with the defending Wimbledon champion. Williams served exceptionally well, making 72% of her first serves and winning 90% of those points. (She made a few too many errors in the second set, 12, before finding a rhythm in the third: two errors and 14 winners.) Raymond, it seemed, rushed when she served for the match at 5-2.

“I didn’t serve well that game, and you can’t give Venus second serves,” she said.

Other top women prevailed without having to press. Amelie Mauresmo defeated hard-hitting Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2, while Maria Sharapova defeated American Ashley Harkleroad 6-2, 6-2. Another American, Jamea Jackson, nearly upset no. 15 seed Daniela Hantuchova before falling 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

With Hantuchova and Fernando Gonzalez, who defeated Marat Safin 4-6, 6-7(4),6-4,6-4,6-4,taking so long to win, Andy Roddick had a late start to his second-round match with Florian Mayer. The no. 3 seed worked quickly, ending a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 victory with a second-serve ace. Lleyton Hewitt ran out of time, failing to close out Hyung-Taik Lee after serving for the match in the fourth set at 6-5.Those two, along with Andy Murray and Julien Benneteau, will pick up where they left off today.

Roddick took some positive steps. He served 70% on his first serve, winning 87% of those points. He also hit 13 baseline winners and 13 volley winners, far more aggressive numbers than in his tentative first-round win.

“It just felt clean out there tonight,” Roddick said. “I wasn’t overthinking things.”

When the topic of Agassi and Nadal came up, the fan in Roddick came to the forefront.

“I’m as excited as anybody,” he said. “I think they might put it on Centre.”

tperrotta@nysun.com