Rafael Nadal suffers bloody nose at 2022 US Open.Photo: COREY SIPKIN/AFP/Getty
Not even a bloody nose could stopRafael Nadalfrom advancing to the next round at theUS Open.
The 36-year-old tennis great was in the fourth set againstFabio Fogniniduring Thursday’s second round match when his racket ricocheted off the ground while he was going for the ball. The star immediately stopped playing and went over to the side lines where he received medical attention for the bloody cut on his nose.
Nadal’s opponent, Fognini of Italy, went over to check on Nadal, and fortunately play was able to resume roughly five minutes later. Afterwards, the star, who sported a bandaid on his nose for the rest of the night, was able to rally, winning the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
COREY SIPKIN/AFP/Getty
Nadal told US Open attendeesduring his postgame interviewthat he was a “little dizzy at the beginning” of play after the injury, which he admitted was “a little bit painful.”
Despite the scary injury, Nadal appeared to be in good spirits afterwards and even joked about having been hit in the face with a golf club, but never before “with a tennis racket.”
“(It) was just a strong hit,” he remarked, according toCNN. “At the beginning, I thought I (broke) the nose because it was a shock at the beginning. Was very painful. I lost little bit the – I don’t know how to say in English – but a little bit the feeling of my head. It’s about being a little bit out of the world.”
Nadal joked that while it seemed like his nose wasn’t broken, it was “getting bigger and bigger.”
Sarah Stier/Getty
The tennis star also took to social media to assure his 16 million Instagram followers that the injury wasn’t going to derail him. At 1:35 a.m., Nadal tagged the US Open Tennis Championships as his location as he let his fans know he’ll be ready to go for his next match.
“All good,” he wrote alongside a thumbs-up selfie.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Rafael Nadal assures fans he’s “all good” after bloody nose injury at US Open.Rafael Nadal/Instagram
The biggest shock for Nadal however, wasn’t the hit to his face, but his poor play to start the match.Per CNN, Nadal joked afterwards, “That’s just a shock some way I deserved to play that bad for a while!”
Prior to competing in the US Open,Nadal struggled with an abdominal tear that kept himfrom facing Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon semi-finals in July. “Unfortunately, as you can imagine, if I am here, it’s because I have to pull out from the tournament,” the Spanish tennis player said at a press conference in June. “I have a tear in the muscle in the abdominal … It’s obvious that if I keep going, the injury [is] gonna be worse and worse.”
“I made my decision because I believe I can’t win two matches under these circumstances,” the Spaniard added. “I can’t do my normal movement to serve.” Nadal said it would likely take three to four weeks to recover from the injury.
source: people.com
