Rafael Nadal lost in his opening match in Cincinnati to an in-form Borna Coric on Wednesday. The Spanish legend was back to competition after a couple of months since he had to retire from the Wimbledon semi-final after struggling with an abdominal injury.
The match lasted almost 3 hours and during the press conference that followed the encounter, Rafa was asked to comment about his injury, given the fact that he has served a lot.
Nadal replied:
“Well, in some ways difficult to analyze, no? Because when you have a scar, then the line is very thin. You know, when is because the scar doesn’t have enough flexibility, then you feel it. But you don’t know if you feel it because of that or if because something is not going well.
So you need to take care in every single moment. So I probably gonna do some tests after here to confirm that everything stays the way that we want. But that’s it, no? I am positive. I was able to have a week of practice here, trying my best every single day, practicing days better, practicing much better than the way that I played today, honestly.”
Rafael Nadal in 2022
Ranked world no.3, Nadal played his last match on the 17th of August when he lost to world no.152 Borna Coric 7-6(9) 4-6 6-3 in the 2nd round in Cincinnati (draw).
Currently, during this year Nadal has a 35-4 match record. Rafael has won 4 titles in 2022 in Melbourne, at the Australian Open, in Acapulco and at the French Open. The Spaniard was the runner-up in Indian Wells.
Nadal is scheduled to play next in U.S. Open (U.S. Open). He will start from the main draw on the 29th of August.
Coric in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2022
LLWLLLWLLW Now ranked no.152, Borna has managed to achieve a compiled 13-12 match record in 2022. Coric is competing in Cincinnati where he defeated the world no.33 Lorenzo Musetti 7-62 6-3 and the world no.3 Rafael Nadal 7-69 4-6 6-3.
Borna Coric will take on the world no.19 Roberto Bautista Agut in the 3rd round. Their current head to head is 4-3 for Bautista Agut.
The Croatian has won 1 title in 2022 in the Parma Challenger.
Coric is scheduled to compete next in U.S. Open (U.S. Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw on the 29th of August thanks to a protected ranking.
Rafael Nadal and Borna Coric fought against each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Coric. Previously, the last time they competed against each other, Borna Coric won 7-6(9) 4-6 6-3 in the 2nd round in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open) on the 17th of August 2022.
Here the video highlights.
