Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal battled through to the third round of the US Open with a four-set victory over Fabio Fognini, in which the Spaniard bizarrely cut his own nose.

A crucial second set was also one of Nadal’s more chaotic sets of 2022, with the pair breaking one another every time during the first five games. That means a lot.” I’m still alive after a match like this. During his press conference afterwards, Nadal added: "It was just a strong hit. I don't know, seems like it is not broken. "I lost little bit the - I don't know how to say in English - but a little bit of the feeling of my head.

Rafael Nadal cut himself on the bridge of his nose with his own racket when it ricocheted off the court on the follow-through from a shot during Thursday's ...

The 36-year-old from Spain was moving to his right when he hit a backhand. “A little bit painful.” At least Nadal could joke about it afterward during his on-court interview.

There were bizarre scenes on court when the Spaniard's nose had to be patched up.

Rafael Nadal ends up with a nasty, bloody cut on the bridge of his nose. The Washington Post's Ava Wallace posted: "Sheesh. Not sure I've ever seen this before." He just had a freak accident on the court where his racket hit the court and bounced back and struck his nose. Fans were stunned by the unusual incident. Tennis reporter James Gray tweeted: "Wow.

Action at the US Open came to a halt briefly on Friday afternoon after a strange injury to star Rafael Nadal during his match against Italy's Fabio Fognini.

Then he placed both hands on his head, before going over to the sideline. The Spaniard was bleeding and took a medical timeout. Nadal was cut on the bridge of his nose when his racket bounced off the court and smacked him in the face during the fourth set of his second-round match at the US Open.

As blood rushed out of Rafael Nadal's nose, he initially worried it was broken in the self-inflicted incident.

When Nadal dumped a backhand into the net, Fognini broke to lead 3-2, then went ahead 4-2. The 36-year-old from Spain was moving to his right when he hit a backhand. “A little bit painful.” * It made for a bizarre, and briefly scary, scene, as Nadal immediately grimaced, dropped his racquet, put a palm to his face and then placed both hands on his head.

Rafael Nadal was left baffled by his own “terrible” start before securing a comeback four-set win over Fabio Fognini at the US Open.

That's what I was looking for for a set and a half, to start to compete. I was positive. But I had a couple of good serves and a good passing shot with the backhand. It's about being a little bit out of the world. Today I was not doing that for a while. “I was lucky it was 15-40. I was not competing, no? “I was not able to be very focused when I come back from that,” he added. I don't understand yet how I started that bad because the feeling before the match was good. Lucky that Fabio made some mistakes and I was able to start putting some balls in and finish the match playing obviously better, much better.” “I was a little bit in shock. When asked how he was feeling in the press conference afterwards, Nadal replied: “Little bit of pain, honestly, but good.

Rafael Nadal overcame accidentally hitting himself in the face with his own racket to beat Fabio Fognini in the US Open second round.

Nadal has a famously good record against the Frenchman, winning all 17 of their clashes. "But that's part of the game. He called it "one of the worst starts, probably ever." It's about being a little bit out of the world. At the beginning, I thought I (broke) the nose because it was a shock at the beginning. After the victory, Nadal played down the injury, saying he felt a "little bit pain, honestly, but good."

After his racket rebounded off the court and cut his nose in the fourth set, a bandaged Rafael Nadal finished off Fabio Fognini.

Nadal posted a selfie on his Instagram story with the thumbs-up emoji and an “all good” message after the win. Nadal told reporters the incident was “a shock" and he initially thought he had broken his nose. “I know that when I come back on court I going to be in trouble for a while. He will face France’s Richard Gasquet in the third round on Saturday. The freak accident occurred during the first point of the fourth game in the final set, with Nadal leading 3-0 and on his way to improving to 21-0 in Grand Slam matches this year. Rafael Nadal was bloodied but not defeated during his second-round match Thursday at the U.S.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion ended up winning his four-set second round match despite the injury.

His medical team quickly bandaged up his nose allowing him to continue to play. He immediately dropped his racket and walked over to his bench. Rafael Nadal may have won his four-set match against Fabio Fognini on Thursday night at the U.S.

Rafael Nadal says he does not need to play as many matches at his age going into Grand Slams.

You don't need that amount of matches and practices, but it's true that the key is to have the right preparation. "At the moment it's about avoiding risks and if I get injured then of course the chance to go very far in the tournament will be zero. Since Wimbledon, Nadal played in only the Cincinnati Masters to prepare for the hard court Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows. Now is the moment to make this and even if I am able to advance into the tournament maybe I will have another chance. "Then I started to be not perfect of course but much better. It did not all go Nadal's way, though, as he went a set down against the Italian not looking his usual self before suffering a nose injury at the start of the second set.