For a set and a half Fabio Fognini it made people dream of the great enterprise against Rafael Nadal. The Ligurian dominated until 6-2 4-2 before suffering the furious comeback of the Majorcan who won 16 of the last 19 games, qualifying for the third round of the US Open and securing a place in the Nitto ATP Finals scheduled in November in Turin .
Gli Italian Golden Kids brilliant New York
by Claudio Giua
Nadal, racket on the nose
“It was one of the worst game starts of my career,” Nadal said after the game. The 36-year-old Majorcan, who is chasing the 23rd Slam of his career, was the protagonist of a curious injury in the fourth set: on the first point of the fourth game in responding to a backhand from Fognini he accidentally hit the racket on the nose. Nadal stopped and went to lie down next to his chair with a bloody nose, then medicated by the trainer. Then he returned to the field and closed the match with a clear 6-1. “It hurts me: the blow was strong and at the beginning I thought I had broken it, because the pain was so great. Fortunately it seems not to be broken, even if it is swelling more and more”. The Frenchman is waiting for him in the next round Richard Gasquetn.91 in the ranking, with which he has never lost in 17 comparisons.
