Rafael Nadal recovers from shaky start to advance to third round at US Open

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing

Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news

Thanks for signing up to the
Sport email

Rafael Nadal recovered from a very shaky start to defeat Fabio Fognini and reach the third round of the US Open.

The second seed, who has not lost before the last 32 in New York since 2004, trailed by a set and 4-2 and was struggling to put the ball in the court.

But, with some help from a similarly wayward opponent, Nadal turned things around and finished strongly in a 2-6 6-4 6-2 6-1 victory to set up a clash with fellow veteran Richard Gasquet.

The Spaniard had played only one match since sustaining an abdominal tear at Wimbledon prior to arriving at Flushing Meadows and was wary of fully committing to his serve.

Recommended

It was not just the serve that was having an off day initially on Arthur Ashe Stadium, with Nadal spraying groundstrokes and missing routine balls.

Across the first two sets he made 27 unforced errors and dropped serve five times, including four in a row.

Fognini had not had to do anything special to put himself in a position to repeat his 2015 triumph here over Nadal but, when the Spaniard began to at last find his range, his opponent could not respond.

Having sought treatment for blisters in the second set, there was a bizarre moment in the fourth when Nadal hit himself in the nose with his racket and needed a medical timeout after drawing blood.

But he was fully in control by that time and the incident did not derail his momentum, although he will be well aware he will need to play much better if he is to challenge for a fifth title here.

Nadal’s countryman Carlos Alcaraz had a more comfortable time of it earlier in the day, defeating Federico Coria 6-2 6-1 7-5.

Recommended



The third seed was delighted with his level and concentration, saying: “I’m really happy with my performance today. I think I played really, really well. I had to be really, really focused. Grand slam, every minute on courts counts. You have to be really focused and show your best level. I think I did it today.”

Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner, who both had five-set battles in the first round, won comfortably this time but eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz is out after a shock 6-4 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-3 loss to Ilya Ivashka and Grigor Dimitrov also fell.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

{{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

{{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Source: Read Full Article