US Open: Rafael Nadal and his nose survive 2: 6, 2: 4 behind against Fognini
Rafael Nadal has reached the third round at the 2022 US Open. In the end he beat Fabio Fognini 2: 6, 6.4, 6: 2, 6: 1 - it looked critical at the beginning.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Sep 02, 2022, 07:09 am
Because with Nadal, there was little going on against the Italian at the beginning.
It was 2: 6, 2: 4 after a sentence and a half, which was mainly due to himself: Only 6 winners have been on his side so far - with 24 (!) unforced errors. But then Nadal pulled the rudder around, brought more balls into the field, won the second round with 6: 4, in which Fognini alone again produced 23 (!!!) errors without need. Round three also went quickly to the Spaniard, who also managed an early break in the fourth set against a now quite demotivated Fognini.
But he got some air again - unexpectedly: Nadal got a bit off balance after a backhand ball against the running direction, stabilized himself with his racket, which bounced off the ground and doped right on his nose. At that moment, Nadal's head was rattling, as he explained later, he went straight into a short break in treatment, but the physio stopped the bleeding.
Fognini used the momentum and held his serve to make it 1: 3, he also had two break chances afterwards, but Nadal parried. For his part, he took the service from Fognini again and served to win.
Nadal: So far only hit the nose with the golf club
"One of the worst match starts of my career," Nadal judged afterwards, he just tried to keep the balls in play - with success. The 36-year-old said he had never hit his nose with a tennis racket. "Only with the golf club."
Nadal now meets Richard Gasquet, who won against Miomir Kecmanovic.
Against the French, Nadal leads 17-0 in a direct comparison.
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