Rafael Nadal says there is no need to make a big deal about a bizarre incident that happened to him during his second round match at the US Open on Thursday.
Taking on Italy’s Fabio Fognini at the Arthur Ashe stadium, the 23-time Grand Slam champion had to pause the match midway through the fourth set due to a bleeding nose. After hitting a backhand shot, his racket hit the ground before rebounding into his nose. Nadal then returned to his seat where he lay on the floor before receiving some medical treatment.
Speaking about the freak accident during his press conference, Nadal said he initially felt a bit dizzy but it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
“[It] was just a strong hit. At the beginning I thought I [broke] the nose because it was a shock at the beginning. Was very painful. I lost little bit the… feeling of my head. It’s about being a little bit out of the world,” he said. “I don’t know, seems like it’s not [broken]. I am not sure yet. I don’t know. I think it’s getting bigger and bigger.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion joked that the freak accident was perhaps something he deserved for his ‘bad’ play in his latest match. Against Fognini, the Spaniard had to recover from a slow start to prevail 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1. Nadal hit almost two times more unforced errors than winners (37-20) and dropped serve six times. It is only the third match he has played since pulling out of his Wimbledon semi-final due to an abdominal injury.
“I don’t understand yet how I started that bad because the feeling before the match was good.” He said.
“But these kinds of things sometimes happen so you need to accept it and keep going. That’s what I did. Luckily Fabio made some mistakes and I was able to start putting some balls in and finish the match playing obviously better, much better.”
Nadal now leads Fognini 14-4 in their head-to-head. He has won 66 matches at the US Open which moves him past John McEnroe for the most victories achieved by a male player at the tournament in the Open Era. This season alone he has won 37 matches against four losses.
The latest victory has also secured Nadal’s place in the Nitto ATP Finals which will take place in November. He is the first singles player to qualify for the year-ending tournament and it is the 17th time in his career he has done so.
“It’s better than what we expected when we started the year and we didn’t know much about how things were going to go,” Nadal said of his season.
“I am practicing much, much better than what I am playing. That’s a positive thing. Then I need to make that happen in the matches. It’s something that is not easy. But I’m making a step forward.” He added.
Nadal will next play Richard Gasquet in what will be their 18th Tour meeting. He has never lost to the Frenchman in his career.
