Rafael Nadal has a new injury issue a tendon problem in his right knee that nearly prompted him to forfeit a first—round match at the Australian Open that he managed to win easily.
Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters, both bothered by injuries coming into the tournament, also advanced to the second round in more routine fashion on Monday and said they felt they were over their ailments.
That wasn’t the case with Nadal. Bothered by a left shoulder injury late last year, Nadal had his right knee heavily taped during his 6—4, 6—1, 6—1 win over Alex Kuznetsov. The injury occurred in the most innocent of ways sitting in a chair in his hotel room when he felt “a crack” in his knee and some “unbelievable pain.”
He had an MRI scan late Sunday that showed no major damage to his knee, but before that, the incident left him thinking “I wasn’t 100 percent sure I would have a chance to play.”
“That’s in the past,” Nadal said when asked about his shoulder injury in a post—match television interview. But it was a different story later when he talked about his knee.
“I was sitting on a chair in the hotel, I felt like a crack on the knee ... really strange, he said. “I stand up. I felt the knee a little bit strange. I moved the leg like this two times to try to find the feeling. After the second time, the knee stays with an unbelievable pain completely straight. I have no movement on the knee.”
“The best thing is I felt the knee very well. I really don’t understand why happened everything, but I am really happy that today I was ready to play and I played a fantastic match.”
Federer, who pulled out of a tournament in Doha two weeks ago with back soreness, began the quest for his 17th Grand Slam title and first since the 2010 Australian Open with a 7—5, 6—2, 6—2 win over qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev.
It was Federer’s 60th win at the Australian Open, and he also has 60—plus wins at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
The third—seeded Federer took the first two sets and was up a break in the third before the Russian rallied with a break of serve in the fifth game of the final set. Federer, however, broke Kudryavtsev in the next game with a backhand crosscourt winner and sealed the match when the Russian hit a forehand wide.
“No problem, I am happy to be 100 percent fit,” Federer said after his win.
He batted away just as quickly speculation about a possibly divisive issue with Nadal.
Nadal was critical of Federer on Sunday for not speaking out publicly in support of players who are pushing the ATP for changes in areas such as tournament scheduling and prize money.
“Things are fine between us, you know. I have no hard feelings towards him,” Federer said. “It’s been a difficult last few months in terms of politics within the ATP.
Nadal has “mentioned many times how he gets a bit tired and frustrated through the whole process, and I shared that with him. It’s normal. But for me, obviously nothing changes in terms of our relationship. I’m completely cool and relaxed about it.”
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