Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal's “weird” accident gave the 22-time Grand Slam winner a “wake up call”, according to Eurosport's Mats Wilander.

“Amazing that he comes back. It’s only going to happen on a hard court. US Open

The 22-time Grand Slam champion ended up winning his four-set second round match despite the injury.

His medical team quickly bandaged up his nose allowing him to continue to play. He immediately dropped his racket and walked over to his bench. Rafael Nadal may have won his four-set match against Fabio Fognini on Thursday night at the U.S.

Rafael Nadal overcame accidentally hitting himself in the face with his own racket to beat Fabio Fognini in the US Open second round.

Nadal has a famously good record against the Frenchman, winning all 17 of their clashes. "But that's part of the game. He called it "one of the worst starts, probably ever." It's about being a little bit out of the world. At the beginning, I thought I (broke) the nose because it was a shock at the beginning. After the victory, Nadal played down the injury, saying he felt a "little bit pain, honestly, but good."

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The injury was not the only setback the tennis legend faced during the match, having lost the first set he also found himself a breakdown three times in the second set. I knew that when I came back on court I was going to be in trouble for a while," Nadal said. I lost a little bit of the feeling in my head. It's about being a little bit out of the world," Nadal said. He went on to win in a comfortable fashion completing a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 success. The accident occurred in bizarre circumstances during the fourth set with the Spaniard looking set to coast to victory.

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Is it when they get to the towel? Is it when the crowd comes down? Is it at the end of the point?

Rafael Nadal says he does not need to play as many matches at his age going into Grand Slams.

You don't need that amount of matches and practices, but it's true that the key is to have the right preparation. "At the moment it's about avoiding risks and if I get injured then of course the chance to go very far in the tournament will be zero. Since Wimbledon, Nadal played in only the Cincinnati Masters to prepare for the hard court Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows. Now is the moment to make this and even if I am able to advance into the tournament maybe I will have another chance. "Then I started to be not perfect of course but much better. It did not all go Nadal's way, though, as he went a set down against the Italian not looking his usual self before suffering a nose injury at the start of the second set.

Nadal joked after the match he'd only been injured in such a way with a golf club before.

After his victory, Nadal was asked about his injury and if this had ever happened to him before. After all, he did win the Australian Open and the French Open. Players are not allowed to be on the court if there is any bleeding, so after getting the cut cleaned up, Nadal got a bandage on his nose. During a follow-through after hitting the ball back to Fognini, Nadal's racket hit the hard court at Arthur Ashe Stadium and it bounced back straight to his face. Nadal held a 3-0 lead when all of a sudden he was seen dropping his racket, walking off the court and laying down while grabbing his face. The 22-time Grand Slam champion was off to what he described as one of his "worst starts, probably ever," but he got it together and started improving in the second set.

Tennis - Nadal injured his nose in the fourth set against Fabio Fognini in New York.

The Spaniard grabbed another return game at 5-4 to rattle off four straight games and gain a boost. Rafa could not find his strokes in the opening set and sprayed a forehand error in the third game to fall 2-1 behind. Rafael Nadal is through to the third round at the US Open.

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