Nadal’s wrist needs ‘a little more time’
Canadian ace Raonic off to great start at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — As Rafael Nadal stood near the net at the U.S. Open tennis tournament after winning his first Grand Slam match in three months Monday, he unravelled the thick wrap of white tape protecting his allimportant left wrist and then clutched at that arm with his right hand.
Sure, there were matches that provided more drama or surprises on Day 1 at Flushing Meadows.
There was 20th-seeded John Isner’s comeback from two sets down to edge 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe before a rowdy, standingroom-only crowd at the new Grandstand.
A first-round loss by Rio Olympics gold-medallist Monica Puig. French Open champion Garbine Muguruza’s complaints about having trouble breathing after dropping the first set of a match she would go on to win in three. Nothing, though, was as meaningful when it comes to what could go on over the next two weeks as how 14-time major champion Nadal’s wrist felt during and after a relatively straightforward, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, victory over Denis Istomin.
The match was played at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the new $150-million retractable roof remained open under a blue sky, but still offered some extra shade on a day when the temperature reached 90 degrees.
The good news, Nadal said afterward, is that the pain is gone from the part of his body that whips those violent, top-spin-heavy forehands that are the key to his success — 14 of his 21 winners came off that wing. The bad news for Nadal? He still is working on feeling comfortable hitting down-theline forehands, in particular, after sitting out — not just zero real matches, but barely any practice, either — from his withdrawal at the French Open in late May to the Olympics this month.
“Not easy to go 2½ months out of competition, in the middle of the season, without hitting a forehand,” Nadal said. “I need to have the confidence again with my wrist.”
Meanwhile, Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic advanced to the second round with a straightsets win over Germany’s Dustin Brown.
Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., fired 15 aces to Brown’s two and totalled 41 winners en route to the 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Raonic ran into some trouble in the first set. Brown broke him in the fifth game, then won his next service game to tie it at 3-3. The two exchanged service points until Raonic broke Brown for the 7-5 win.
Raonic, seeded fifth at the tournament, is having a career year. He played in a Grand Slam final for the first time at Wimbledon, becoming the first Canadian man to reach a singles championship match at a Grand Slam.
Both Nadal and his coach, Uncle Toni, described the way Rafael changed the way he hits a forehand during the Rio Games to try to avoid pain.
Both said things are getting better.
But as Toni noted: “We need a little time.”
Istomin, who is from Uzbekistan and is ranked 107th, was not exactly likely to give Nadal much of a test. He entered the day 0-4 against the two-time U.S. Open champion, having dropped 10 of the 11 sets they’d played. He had lost his past 20 matches against top-10 opponents. Plus, he’s been dealing with an injured right hamstring lately.
Nadal’s summation of his day: “Not very good; not very bad.”
Uncle Toni’s take? “I hope every day we can play a little bit better.”
There were others feeling that way, too. Isner, for one, had to be rather relieved to escape with a 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory over Tiafoe in their all-American matchup. Puig was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, at No. 32, and was back on court a little more than two weeks after becoming the first athlete representing Puerto Rico to earn a gold medal in any sport at any Olympics. She exited the U.S. Open quickly, beaten 6-4, 6-2 by Zheng Saisai of China.