WATCH: Rafael Nadal throws his racket and crashes on the court in pain after almost breaking his nose, calls the trainer to control the blood
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Rafael Nadal
World No. 3 and the 2nd seed at the ongoing 2022 US Open, Rafael Nadal clashed with Fabio Fognini in the 2nd round as the Spaniard is in New York eyeing his 3rd major of the season and 5th at the Flushing Meadows. After a 4-set win in the first round, Nadal was bothered by Fognini in the 2nd round match as the Italian again took the first set off the Spaniard.
Nadal however made a good comeback in the second set being 2-4 down to win the set 6-4 and then inflicted further pain on the Italian by winning the 3rd set 6-2 as the Italian kept on missing shots, much to the advantage of the Spaniard who took the lead in the match for the first time by winning the 3rd set and put one foot in the 3rd round.
Rafael Nadal had already called the trainer once for Blisters on his hand
During the 4th set, however, Rafa started brilliantly quickly racing to a 3-0 lead. With Fognini serving for the 4th game, on the very first point, an unfortunate accident happened on the court. Fognini returned a backhand and with Nadal already committing his body towards his forehand, had to apply brakes and throw everything on his backhand to make a successful return which he eventually did.
However, in the process, his racket hit the court and bounced back hitting Nadal directly on his nose smashing it as the Spaniard started bleeding instantly and had to throw his racket without even looking at the return made by the Italian. Nadal quickly rushed to his bench and informed the chair umpire about the incident asking for a medical timeout as he laid on the court in pain with blood coming out from his nose due to the racket’s sudden impact.
This was the second timeout asked by Nadal as he had earlier called the trainer for blisters on his hand with blood spotted on his towel and the Spaniard having difficulty holding the racket as well without proper taping.
Despite the injuries, the Spaniard managed to close out the set with a 6-1 victory in the 4th set to enter the 3rd round after a hard-fought battle of 2 hours and 43 minutes to win the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 and will now take on Richard Gasquet.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)