Nadal bothered by knee injury

Posted by Linda Curtis On Monday, January 16th 2012 in Sports

Rafael Nadal has unfortunately received a new injury: a tendon problem occurred at his right knee, a fact that almost had him forfeit his first match at the Australian Open. Roger Federer was also bothered by an injury, however he moved to the second round almost without problems.

"I was sitting on a chair in the hotel, I felt like a crack on the knee ... really strange," Nadal said. "I stand up. I felt the knee a little bit strange. I moved the leg like this two times to try to find the feeling. After the second time, the knee stays with an unbelievable pain completely straight. I have no movement on the knee. I wasn't 100 percent sure I would have a chance to play," Nadal added.

The Spaniard decided he would play after an MRI showed there was no extensive damage.

"I started with a little bit of a scare at the beginning, and nervous because I was really disappointed yesterday," he said. "But after the first 10 games ... I started to play with normal conditions. The best thing is I felt the knee very well. I really don't understand why happened everything, but I am really happy that today I was ready to play and I played a fantastic match."

Federer won 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 over his opponent, Alexander Kudryavtsev.

Nadal was critical towards Federer because he did not support those who ask the ATP for change.

"No problem, I am happy to be 100 percent fit," Federer said. "Things are fine between us, you know. I have no hard feelings towards him. It's been a difficult last few months in terms of politics within the ATP.”