“That was the wake-up call he needed,” Mats Wilander discusses Rafael Nadal’s “weirdest” accident in the US Open
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Mats Wilander and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal‘s quest for 23 continues as he makes way into the third round of the 2022 US Open after defeating the Italian Fabio Fognini in a thrilling match at the Arthur Ashe stadium that went on for two hours and forty minutes of play. The Spaniard had lost the first set but bounced back brilliantly showing his masterclass as the match ended as 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1. He has a 21-0 match winning streak at the Grand Slam matches this year and is eyeing another title this year after becoming the champion at the Australian Open and at the French Open.
He was on the brink of achieving a calendar Grand Slam until his injury during his quarter-final match at Wimbledon which led to his withdrawal from the semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios. He decided to skip playing at the Montreal Open to get an adequate amount of time to get recovered and be able to play his best game. His stint at the Cincinnati Open was also short-lived following a first-round elimination to the eventual winner Borna Coric.
“Looked like he was fainting!”Mats Wilander on Rafael Nadal’s weirdest accident on the court
Rafael Nadal was looking out of place at the beginning of the game but soon got his momentum back to advance into the third round at the US Open. But during his fourth set, Fognini returned a backhand and Nadal extended his hand for a great return but in the process, his racquet got hit on the court, bounced a little bit, and in the process hit Nadal directly on his nose with much intensity as the Spaniard started bleeding instantly and had to throw his racket without even looking at the return made by the Italian. Mats Wilander, the former Swedish player was left stunned by the performance of the Spaniard after the unfortunate incident.
He even pointed out the fact that the accident was rather a wake-up call for the 22-time singles Grand Slam champion and came out strongly. He said “He nearly looked like he was fainting. It’s not going to happen on a clay court or a grass court. It’s only going to happen on a hard court. I have no idea how Nadal injured his nose. That’s absolutely the weirdest accident I’ve ever seen, and the fact that it breaks the skin and you start bleeding. Amazing that he comes back. Maybe that was the wake-up call he needed on the other hand.“
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)