Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini closed Thursday night at the US Open, and the last time the maximum Grand Slams winner in history was two sets up at Flushing Meadows and succumbed in five sets was in 2015 and precisely against the Italian, so the ghosts were haunting the mind of the Mallorcan.
The tennis player born in Palma de Mallorca won with partials of 2-6, 6.4, 6-2 and 6-1, not before recovering from a blow that he took in the nose with his own racket, to place himself in the third round and with the hopes intact to get his fifth crown at the US Open.
Nadal’s anger with a journalist who accuses him of not complying with the rules
And when it seemed that Nadal was in trouble, he showed that he has a lot of heart and after succumbing in the first set, he shook off the ghosts of the past and returned to be that steamroller that does not give a chance to his rivals. Fognini won the first set in just 34 minutes and 6-2.
Nadal’s magical comeback against Fognini
Disconsolate, Nadal turned to see his box and Carlos Moyá clenched his fist and said “Come on Rafa”, something that served to shake off the bad taste in his mouth of the first set, and then began the show of the Spanish tennis player in the Arthur Ashe.
The only thing on the Spaniard’s mind is the conquest of his 23rd Grand Slam, and the second hurdle was not easy, at least on paper, but Rafa did not want to say goodbye early and faced a very atypical second set, and after six breaks of serve, he won the set 6-4 and got a very good feeling in the center court.
Total dominance in the third and fourth set of Rafael Nadal
Tied at one set apiece, the dominant Nadal came back, without letting his rival breathe, he took the third set by a score of 6-2.
And with the advantage already on his side, the legendary player from Palma de Mallorca and came out much looser to the fourth set and immediately went up in his first service game, and is that Fognini and came notoriously tired, and asked for medical assistance to tighten the bandage on his right leg.
The first break in the fourth set came in the same first service game for Fognini, who was already feeling tired and his gestures were of total annoyance.
Alarm bells went off due to a blow to Nadal’s nose
The score in the fourth set was 3-0 and everything was smiles for a Nadal who was winning comfortably, however, at one point he slipped and his racket touched the hard court in Flushing Meadows and bounced hit his nose, immediately threw the racket to the floor and went quickly to his bench to the astonishment of Fognini, who quickly asked the medical service to come in.
In the replay you can see Rafa’s gesture is that his head thundered, while the doctors who attended him cleaned the blood and put him a tape and immediately the Spanish warrior stood up and splashed water on his face to move forward to the applause of the 23,000 fans at the Arthur Ashe.
A few minutes later, Nadal ended up winning 6-1 to move into the third round where he will face Richard Gasquet next Saturday.
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