Rafael Nadal’s first visit to Washington has been nothing if not eventful. If the Spaniard had been hoping for a quiet return to tennis at the Citi Open, his first event since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open almost two months ago, his expectations will have altered from the moment he set foot on the practice court last weekend to find a huge crowd awaiting him. Nadal’s debut appearance at the tournament has caused a major stir in the US capital, and the enthusiasm has been mutual.
“I love to be here in Washington, because it is not only a new event for me, it’s a new city,” said Nadal following his arrival. “It’s a very beautiful city. I have been able to walk around little bit the last couple of days. I am very impressed. I hope to have a chance to visit a little bit more the city during the next couple of days.”
Nadal did indeed hit the tourist trail, further endearing himself to locals when he mistakenly tagged the location of a picture of himself in front of the Capitol as “the White House”. The apologetic Spaniard swiftly retagged the snap, but no apologies have been forthcoming following his pointed remarks about Djokovic’s behaviour at the Olympics, where the Serb hurled one racket into the stands and smashed another during his defeat to Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match.
“The image is not the best,” said Nadal, evidently unafraid to stir the hornet’s nest with the US Open, where Djokovic will attempt to complete the first calendar year grand slam since 1969, less than four weeks away. “It is important to avoid this type of situation, especially as he is a role model for many children. In the end, he is world No 1 and one of the best in history. It is strange that someone so successful reacts in this way from time to time, but in the end he’s very competitive and reacts like this.”
Meanwhile, there is a tennis tournament to be played, and on Wednesday night Nadal faced Jack Sock in his opening match. The American, who reached a career high of 8th in the world in 2017, has endured a torrid time since tearing ligaments in his thumb while using a medicine ball two years ago. After undergoing surgery, Sock struggled for fitness and form, and at one stage fell off the rankings ladder completely. Now back inside the top 200 and married to his long-term girlfriend Laura Little, the 28-year-old has been slowly beginning to find his feet again, reaching the last eight at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport last month.
It was always likely to be a testing assignment for Nadal, himself returning to competition after limping away from Roland Garros with a foot injury that left him unable to play for 20 days, forcing him to miss both Wimbledon and the Olympics, but the 20-time slam champion could hardly have anticipated quite how testing. This was vintage Sock, firing winners with his unorthodox, slingshot forehand, belting down serves at speeds in excess of 130mph, and scrambling for every ball as though his life depended on it. It made for an electric atmosphere, the capacity crowd baying their approval as the two men pushed each other to all corners of the court for three hours and five minutes before Nadal finally prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1).
Victory came at a price, however, Nadal clearly struggling with discomfort in his foot as the third set wore on. As he conceded afterwards, the injury that troubled him during his defeat to Djokovic in Paris remains a problem. “I need to have a little bit less pain in the foot,” said Nadal, who repeatedly hobbled away from rallies in the closing stages. “That’s the truth. But physically I feel more or less OK. I know the process. I went through all this stuff many times in my career. So it’s something I am not worried about.”
Nadal insists he has given the injury enough time to heal but, with Flushing Meadows in the offing, it remains to be seen whether he will keep his scheduled third-round appointment with South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, the 14th seed. “Maybe [it] is not about resting, but is the moment to just keep going,” said Nadal, whose steadier play in the decisive tiebreak ensured he maintained his unbeaten record against Sock in their sixth meeting. “I need to be ready for tomorrow, have a short warm-up, try to be ready for the match. I’m going to have a tough opponent in front. Let’s see. Tomorrow’s another day, another opportunity to play in front of this amazing crowd. I want to enjoy the experience again.”
When Nadal clinched his opening service game to love, it seemed he would be quickly back into the old groove. Three break points came and went for Sock early on and, when Nadal pulled off a spectacular tweener before racing forward to skewer a drop shot, the momentum was firmly with the world No 3. Sock struggled initially to find his timing, miscuing several forehands well beyond the confines of the court, and it was that wing that let him down as Nadal broke in the sixth game, the American driving the ball into the net after being caught out by a chipped return at 30-30. It was a decisive moment. His footwork and shot-making gathering sharpness by the minute, Nadal weathered a tough service game for 5-2 before pounding two consecutive forehand winners to secure a second break and, with it, the set.
Sock stuck doggedly to the task, and his enterprise was finally rewarded with a break in the seventh game of the second set, the sustained pressure taking its toll on Nadal as the Spaniard produced some uncharacteristic forehand errors. Serving at 3-5, Nadal fended off three set points, but now Sock had the bit between his teeth, blasting forehand winners almost at will. By the time he reached 2-0 in the decider, Nadal having conceded another service game with some more wayward hitting off the forehand, Sock had won four games in a row. But a shock exit in his opening match was not what Nadal had come to Washington for, and the Spaniard broke back in the fifth game to set up a thrilling denouement. At what cost to his hopes of a fifth US Open title, time will tell.