Rafael Nadal may have won his four-set match against Fabio Fognini on Thursday night at the U.S. Open, but a strange injury caused fans to wonder if the Spaniard would be able to finish out the match.
In the fourth set while Nadal was up 3–0, he ended up hitting his nose with his own racket. He immediately dropped his racket and walked over to his bench.
In his mind, the 22-time Grand Slam champion thought he broke his nose. However, he only cut it up, causing his nose to bleed quite a lot. His medical team quickly bandaged up his nose allowing him to continue to play.
After his victory, the 36-year-old was asked if he was O.K. after the nose injury.
“Yeah, little bit dizzy at the beginning, little bit painful,” Nadal said.
Nadal noted that this is the first time he’s done this with a tennis racket, although he has hit his nose with a golf club before.
The Spaniard posted a selfie featuring his nose bandage on Instagram following the match to update his fans how he was doing, especially because the match ended in the early hours of the morning.
As he prepares for his round three match on Saturday vs. France’s Richard Gasquet, Nadal made his way to the practice courts on Friday still sporting the bandage.
The winningest men’s tennis Grand Slam champion is hoping to win his third major this year after he captured the Australian Open and the French Open earlier this season.
