WIMBLEDON, England—Rafael Nadal felt something “crush” in his left foot, and the intense pain immediately made him worry that it might be broken.
And then, as he limped along between first-set points in the fourth round at Wimbledon, came an idea just as scary to contemplate: What if he needed to quit?
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to continue playing,” the defending champion and top-seeded Nadal said on Monday after advancing to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
“I felt terrible,” Nadal said. “I felt [like] I broke my foot at that moment.”
The injury happened when the top-ranked Spaniard had a set point with del Potro serving at 6-5. The Spaniard went for a forehand, which he missed, and then pulled up awkwardly and tapped his racket against his left foot, signaling that something was wrong.
“I felt something that like crushed there in the back of the foot outside,” Nadal said. “I seriously didn’t know, at that moment [in] the match, I didn’t know if I will have the chance to continue playing.”
After losing the game, he called for a medical time-out—drawing a complaint from del Potro, who questioned the chair umpire whether that was allowed before the tiebreaker. Nadal took off his shoe and sock and rubbed his foot, before explaining to the trainer what was wrong.
“At set point I felt something,” Nadal said. “This is new. For me, it’s very strong, very painful.”
He limped visibly after every point at the start of the tiebreaker, falling behind 3-0 before winning four straight points. He eventually clinched the set when del Potro double-faulted on set point.
He left the court for more treatment after the set, before coming running back onto the court with his shirt off, drawing huge cheers from the Centre Court crowd.
After the match, Nadal said he would likely have an MRI on Tuesday to determine the full extent of the injury. He is set to face Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
“And I’m worried, for sure,” Nadal said. “I’m going to do the MRI. We’ll see what’s going on. Tomorrow we will see. I cannot predict the future.”
Del Potro had his own injury scare, slipping and falling to the grass at 2-2 in the third set. He remained on the ground, clutching his left hip and then left the court for treatment. But he returned within minutes, and didn’t look hampered by the injury the rest of the way.
Despite both players struggling with ailments, they combined to provide one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament so far. Del Potro, the former US Open champion who missed much of last year after having surgery, continually pressured Nadal with his powerful forehand and strong serve, often attacking the net. Nadal countered with his trademark habit of chasing down balls at both ends of the court, and beat the Argentine with a number of spectacular passing shots.
The point immediately before del Potro’s injury was perhaps the most entertaining of the match.
After chasing Nadal around the court, del Potro hit a forehand volley into the right corner that looked sure to be a winner. But the Spaniard somehow managed to reach it and flicked a perfect forehand lob over the tall Argentine. Del Potro, in turn, chased the ball down and—with his back still to the net—flicked his own forehand lob back toward Nadal, sending it so high up into the air it would have almost hit the Centre Court’s retractable roof, had it been closed. Nadal calmly waited several seconds for the ball to bounce before deciding the point with an easy smash.
Roger Federer dropped a set for the first time in his four matches at Wimbledon this year before coming back to beat 18th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, and reach the quarterfinals at a record 29th consecutive Grand-Slam tournament.
Two-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic kept up his bid for a first Wimbledon title by beating Michael Llodra of France, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Djokovic can replace Nadal at No. 1 in the rankings by reaching Sunday’s final.
Andy Murray breezed past No. 17 Richard Gasquet of France, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2.
Grand-Slam woes continue for Wozniacki
Starting to sound like a broken record, Caroline Wozniacki had to explain again why the top-ranked woman in tennis can’t win a Grand-Slam title.
After coming up short on Monday—wasting a one-set lead before losing, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to 24th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the fourth round at Wimbledon—it’s clear that the 20-year-old Dane is getting tired of justifying her credentials.
“To be honest, I don’t really care what people think or say or do,” said Wozniacki, who has played in only one major final, losing to Kim Clijsters in the championship match at the 2009 US Open. “You know, I cannot really do anything now. I did my best and it wasn’t good enough.”
Wozniacki was the first to admit that she had herself to blame this time for failing to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.
The Dane breezed through the first set in only 24 minutes, and was up a break in the third, leading 2-0. But she was broken three times the rest of the way in a seesaw decider, including going down 6-5. Cibulkova then served out the match, converting her third match point with a forehand winner.
“It’s kind of disappointing because when you’re up 2-love with a break and have a lot of break points that you don’t convert, that’s kind of your own fault,” Wozniacki said. “I was there. I should have taken my chance.”
Wozniacki became No. 1 in October, but isn’t the first top-ranked woman to struggle in Grand Slams. Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic never won a major title either, and many still see the Williams sisters as the top players in women’s tennis—although both Venus and Serena were also eliminated on Monday after struggling with injuries.
Cibulkova seemed to struggle with her nerves in the first set, when she was broken twice—double-faulting on break point both times.
But she found her rhythm in the second and dictated play on most long baseline rallies, repeatedly forcing the Dane from corner to corner.
“That’s the way how you should play against Wozniacki because she’s just great,” said Cibulkova, who will play Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. “Today I had to take all or nothing. After the first set I realized, I have to go for my shots 100 percent or anyway I have no chance. That’s how I started to play, and I was really going for everything.”
Maria Sharapova made it to the last eight for the first time in five years, beating Peng Shuai, 6-4, 6-2.
Sharapova started slowly before winning seven straight games to take command against the 20th-seeded Chinese player on Court Two. The big-hitting Russian had 27 winners and 10 unforced errors.
“Last year I lost in the fourth round to Serena and this year I find myself in the quarterfinals and I’m giving myself an opportunity to go even in further so I’m quite happy about that,” Sharapova said.
In other women’s play, fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka beat Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 6-2; German wild card Sabine Lisicki reached the quarters for the second time, downing Petra Cetkovska, 7-6 (3), 6-1; No. 8 Petra Kvitova, a semifinalist here last year, needed just 45 minutes to defeat No. 19 Yanina Wickmayer, 6-0, 6-2; and 80th-ranked Austrian Tamira Paszek beat Ksenia Pervak of Russia, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, to secure her first Grand-Slam quarterfinal berth.
Wozniacki had to save two set points at 6-5 to force the tiebreaker, where she went behind 6-4 after Cibulkova hit a forehand winner down the line.
The Slovakian finally converted her fourth set point with a strong forehand that Wozniacki lunged to reach, but only managed to loft long.
“She just goes for everything,” Wozniacki said of the hard-hitting Cibulkova. “She doesn’t hold back. So if it goes in, it’s tough. But we had a lot of long rallies, a lot of good points, and unfortunately I didn’t win today.”
Wozniacki will next play in the clay-court tournament in Bastad, Sweden. After that, she will take a brief break to get ready for the hard-court season, and her next shot at a Grand-Slam title at the US Open.
Williamses also sent packing
Venus and Serena Williams were both eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday, the first time in five years that neither sister will play in the quarterfinals at the All England Club.
Defending champion and four-time winner Serena was the first to go, beaten 6-3, 7-6 (6) by Marion Bartoli of France, cutting short the American’s return to Grand-Slam tennis after nearly a year out with serious health problems.
Older sister and five-time champion Venus was ousted, 6-2, 6-3, by Tsvetana Pironkova.
In Photo: Rafael Nadal plays through pain to reach the quarterfinals. (AP)
