Rafael Nadal’s knee is hurting him once again – Tennis News
Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, has admitted that his knees are troubling him again and they could hamper his performance in the semi-final clash against world number four, Andy Murray of Great Britain, in the semi-final at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
"It's going to be complicated. The left knee's not functioning all that well," said the 10-time Grand Slam champion during a pre match interview.
The tournament is being held at the hard courts of Crandon Park and this surface puts the most pressure on Nadal’s knee joints. The left-hander has never won a title here.
The Spaniard, who started strongly in the quarterfinals, struggled in the end to beat sixth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, in a three set match.
Nadal was forced to call trainer for medical treatment on his knee during the quarterfinal against Kei Nishikori.
The Spaniard revealed his situation afterwards, "The knee began to bother me while I was training in Mallorca, before I came to America. I had treatment, but it started to feel bad again at Indian Wells and now it's hurting once more. Perhaps it came about due to the intensity with which I played in Australia.”
The 6ft 1in tall featured in the longest Grand Slam final against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open earlier this season.
Nadal added, "It's not feeling great and it's taken a bit of my intensity away, above all in training. However, I'll bear it for as long as I possibly can - afterwards I'll have two weeks of rest before the clay season starts."
The former world number one has defeated Murray in 13 of their 18 career meetings, toppling the 24-year-old in three Grand Slam semi-finals last year. However, the Spaniard has lost to the Brit in five of the last eight encounters on the hard courts.
Nadal is going through a title drought since winning the 2011 French Open. The Spaniard has lost in the final of four tournaments after winning last year’s Roland Garros and one of those losses was at the hands of Murray.
The Brit played one of the best sets of his career to beat Nadal 6-0 in the decider of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships final last year. That was also their latest meeting on the hard courts.
The 25-year-old will be looking to reach his fourth title match at the Sony Ericsson Open. He was on the losing side on all the three previous occasions. Nadal threw away a one set advantage to get beaten by Djokovic in the final last season.
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