Rafael Nadal: I Couldn't Continue With Serious Knee Pain - UBITENNIS

Rafael Nadal: I Couldn’t Continue With Serious Knee Pain

The defending champion was forced to retire down two sets to none to Juan Martin Del Potro.

By Cole Paxton
3 Min Read

Rafael Nadal described his acute knee pain in Friday’s US Open semifinal as near unbearable, forcing him to retire down two sets to Juan Martin Del Potro.

Nadal officially ended the match with Del Potro leading 7-6, 6-2, a handful of games after the world No. 1 indicated to the chair umpire that he would not be able to finish the match and more than a set after his right knee first bothered him.

He said in his press conference that he originally noticed a problem at 2-2, and hoped that his condition would improve. His form did not immediately dip — he broke Del Potro when the Argentine served for the first set and forced a tiebreak — he could not recover. Nadal’s movement was noticeably compromised midway through the second set, and he told the chair umpire while complaining about a line call at 1-4 that he would eventually retire.

“I waited as much as I can. You could imagine (it was) very difficult for me to say goodbye before the match finished,” Nadal told reporters. “But at some point you have to take a decision. It was so difficult for me to keep playing at the same time that way, having too much pain.”

By early in Friday’s match, Nadal had already spent more time on court than across all seven matches in his run to the 2017 title. Nadal did not, however, attribute his knee pain to cumulative wear and tear, even from his 4 hour, 49 minute quarterfinal against Dominic Thiem late Tuesday night.

Instead, he compared the issue to previous knee issues he has faced and said he was not concerned about structural damage.

“I know what is going on with the knee. But the good thing is I know how I have to work to be better as soon as possible because we have a lot of experience on that,” he added. “The problem is this time was something a little bit more aggressive because it was in one movement. It was not something progressive. I don’t know what can happen in a couple of days or in a couple of weeks.”

The loss caps an up-and-down grand slam season for Nadal, who won a record 11th French Open title and reached all four quarterfinals, but was also forced to retire at the Australian Open. Though the 32-year-old said recovery could take him either a few days or much longer, he seems exceedingly unlikely to play for Spain in the Davis Cup next week.

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