Top seed Rafael Nadal says he is still experiencing pain in his foot but has vowed to continue playing at the Citi Open after coming through a marathon second-round match.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion required more than three hours to oust America’s Jack Sock 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(1) in what was a roller coaster encounter. Nadal was forced to recover from a break down in the decider before going on to prevail in the decisive tiebreaker. Winning 70% of his first service points and firing eight aces past his opponent.
“The match wasn’t easy,” Nadal said afterwards. “I started to suffer a little bit too much.”
Sock was the first player the 20-time Grand Slam winner has played since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open back in June. The 35-year-old took a break from the sport in order to rest and recover from a foot injury that sidelined him for 20 days during that period. However, the foot continues to be troublesome for Nadal with him admitting that he felt some pain during his latest match.
“You need matches like this to be fitter after a month without competing. But that’s part of the process, and I know the process,” he said. “I went through all this stuff many times in my career. So it’s something I am not worried about.
“So is about winning these kind of matches. That helps you to be better. Then, if I’m able to improve with my foot, I think the rest of the things [are] going to come step by step.”
Despite the physical problem, the Spaniard was able to draw upon his trademark fighting spirit to see him over the finish line. This week is the first time he has played in the Washington tournament which is categorised as an ATP 500 event.
There will be little time for Nadal to recover from his latest match. On Thursday he is set to play South Africa’s Lloyd Harris in what will be their first tour meeting. Harris, who is seeded 14th in the draw, reached the last 16 after Tennys Sandgren retired from their match during the second set.
“I have been resting enough. Maybe [it] is not about resting, but is the moment to just keep going,” Nadal said. “[It] is the moment to not practise much because I played a three-hour match, so I need to be ready for tomorrow.
“[I will] have a short warm-up tomorrow, try to be ready for the match. I’m going to have a tough opponent in front. Let’s see. Tomorrow’s another day, another opportunity to play in front of this amazing crowd. I want to enjoy the experience again.”
Elsewhere at the tournament two top-five seeds have crashed out. Third seed Alex de Minaur was leading Steve Johnson by a set before losing 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2. Meanwhile, fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov fell 6-2, 7-6(4), to Ilya Ivashka.
