The moment when Rafael Nadal suffered a hard blow to the nose.

Rafa Nadal acknowledged on Thursday that he thought he had "broken his nose", referring to the strong blow he accidentally received with the racket during the second round match of the US Open, which he won with difficulty against Italian Fabio Fognini.

“At first, I thought I had broken my nose, it hurt a lot. It seems it's not broken, although I'm not sure. It's swelling, but it's just a hit,” Nadal said in the press conference after the match.

The impact occurred in the fourth set, when Nadal was leading 3-0 after escaping from a very complicated situation that saw him trailing 2-6 and 2-4, struggling to hold his serve.

Despite the dramatic cut and the strong blow to the nose, the Spaniard managed to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, and 6-1 and advanced to the third round to face French Richard Gasquet.

“I knew I would have some trouble (after the blow), but in the end, I won that game. The most important thing in this sport is that when you are playing badly, you must not be too far behind in the score, and when you are playing well, you must try to accelerate,” he said.

Nadal did not hide and described his start of the match as "a disaster," but he emphasized that he is a "positive" person and always tries to give himself a chance to get into the game.

“I don't lose confidence until I'm out,” he recalled.

“There was a moment when I was making such a mess that I couldn't calm down. The pace was much higher than usual, even without long points. I felt very rushed and that didn't allow me to think clearly and act with my game standards,” he said.

He also considered that sports "are simple although sometimes they want to give it a complexity that often does not exist" and that when things get complicated, it is important "not to despair" and do things simply.

Source: EFE