Rafael Nadal struggles with foot injury in Italian Open loss

With just 10 days to go before the French Open Rafael Nadal is struggling with an injury again Nadal was hampered by a foot problem toward the end of a 16 75 62 thirdround loss to Denis Shapovalov at the Italian Open on Thursday At one point the 35yearold Nadal walked over and leaned on his towel box and grimaced in apparent pain He also limped between pointsNadal missed a large portion of last year with a left foot injury I hurt my foot again with a lot of pain Nadal said Im a player living with an injury Its nothing new Its something that is there unfortunately Day by day is difficult It was a worrisome scene for Nadal especially with the French Open starting on May 22What can happen in the next couple of days I dont know said Nadal who has won Roland Garros a record 13 times What can happen in one week I really dont know nowNadal returned to the tour last week following a rib stress fracture that kept him out for six weeks after a blistering start to the year that included his record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open Its difficult for me to accept the situation sometimes Nadal said Can be frustrating that a lot of days I cant practice the proper way Nadal was also beaten by 19yearold Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of last weeks Madrid OpenNadal doublefaulted twice then missed a backhand long to hand Shapovalov a break of his serve and the second set Shapovalov then took complete control when he won 14 straight points late in the third Definitely tough to see him in pain there at the end said Shapovalov who will face Casper Ruud in the quarterfinalsI never want to see that especially with a great legend like Rafa He brings so much to our sport Hopefully hes fit and ready to go for the French Nadal who has won the Italian Open a record 10 times said his foot started hurting midway through the second set adding Then it wasnt playable for meEarlier topranked Novak Djokovic was untroubled in a 62 62 win over Stan Wawrinka who was playing only his second tournament after undergoing two surgeries on his left foot Djokovic a fivetime champion in Rome will next play Felix AugerAliassime who ended the run of American qualifier Marcos Giron with a 63 62 victoryIt will be the first meeting between Djokovic and AugerAliassime In the womens tournament topranked Iga Swiatek was tested before pulling out a 64 61 victory over former No 1 Victoria Azarenka to reach the quarterfinals and extend her winning streak to 25 matches Azarenka took a 30 lead before Swiatek won five straight games in a grueling first set that lasted 1 hour 20 minutes My first serve wasnt working properly Swiatek said But Im happy that I could kind of win ugly in the first set then improve in the secondIt gives me confidence that even when my game is not 100 per cent good I can still win matches Swiatek is attempting to win her fifth straight tournament and defend her title in Rome The last player to win more consecutive matches was Serena Williams who had a streak of 27 in a row over 2014 and 2015 The streak doesnt really matter for me because every match is different Swiatek saidIn many matches I struggled this season even though I won them Anything can happen Every match is a different story Swiateks run makes her a favourite to win a second French Open when the years second Grand Slam gets underway in 10 days When Swiatek won at Roland Garros in 2020 she was ranked No 54 making her the lowestranked woman to win the Paris major in the Open era In a sign of how challenging it was for Swiatek to hold serve on the red clay court at the Foro Italico she played more than twice as many points on her serve than Azarenka did 98 to 47Azarenka was rattled when a spectator entered the front row of the mostly empty VIP section just behind her as she was facing a break point late in the first set When she then doublefaulted to hand Swiatek control of the set she slammed her racket in frustration and complained to the chair umpire about the midgame interruption Swiatek will next face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu who eliminated Croatian qualifier Petra Martic 64 64The loudest cheers of the day were for Jannik Sinner the 20yearold Italian who beat Filip Krajinovic 62 76 6 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time at his home tournament Sinner will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas who rallied past Karen Khachanov 46 60 63 for a tourleading 29th win of the year Also 2017 Rome champion Alexander Zverev who is also coming off a run to the Madrid final beat Alex De Minaur 63 76 5Zverev who is still seeking his first title of the year has his father and coach Alexander back on the circuit with him after a prolonged absence for reasons the family has kept personal When Zverev won the ATP Finals in November his older brother and fellow pro Mischa was coaching him I was missing a coach for six months Zverev said Thats what was missingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no 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