Four-time champions Rafael Nadal overcame a freak injury scare when he accidentally hit himself with his own racquet to reach the US Open third round on Thursday.
Tennis great Rafael Nadal avoided a rare injury scare on Thursday to get to the third round of the US Open 2022 after accidentally hitting himself with his racket. The Spanish ace defeated Italy's Fabio Fognini 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 but only after enduring a bizarre self-inflicted injury when leading 3-0 in the fourth set.
The four-time champion, who also holds a men's record 22 Grand Slam titles, suffered an injury to his nose after his racket rebounded off the court as he reached for a ball.
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The 36-year-old Australian and French Open champion slammed his racquet to the Arthur Ashe Stadium floor before sprinting to the sidelines and collapsing to the ground while lying on his back and bleeding from the nose. He had to stop the game for a medical break to get the wound attended to before continuing with a bandage covering his nose.
Following his win against the Italian, Nadal took to Instagram to send a message to his concerned fans. The 22-time Grand Slam champion shared a selfie on his story and captioned it: "All good", along with a thumbs up and smiley emoticon. Fans will be relieved to see that Spaniard feeling all good after the blow to his nose had left him dizzy during the clash.
After winning his late-night match, which included 15 serve breaks and 97 unforced errors, Nadal will next play France's Richard Gasquet, against whom he has a 17-0 career record.
Meanwhile, Nadal has also captured the imagination of supporters gathered to witness the Spaniard in action at the US Open 2022 with his unique design detail on his shoes. The tennis legend has embossed all the four years he's won the title at Flushing Meadows on his pink and yellow pair of Nike shoes.