‘I’m fit to play’, says Nadal

Defending champion Rafael Nadal said yesterday that he will be fit to play his Wimbledon quarter-final against Mardy Fish after a scan revealed he had not suffered a serious left foot injury.

The world number one suffered the injury in Monday’s last 16 win over Juan Martin del Potro and immediately revealed that his future participation in the tournament was in doubt.

But the 25-year-old revealed on his Facebook page that he will be fit to tackle Fish today.

“After the match I went to take a MRI at a London hospital,” he said.

“During the match I thought I had something serious. But as the match went on the pain got better and thankfully the tests don’t show an injury.”

Nadal, who was unable to defend his Wimbledon title in 2009 because of a knee injury, had his foot bandaged at 6-6 in the first set of his 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 triumph over Del Potro on Monday.

While he sat in his chair, he grimaced with pain, but still came out for the tie-break which he won even though his movement appeared to be restricted.

“I thought I would have to retire at the end of the first set because there was a lot of pain. But the tape changed the situation.

“At 6-5, I pushed hard with the forehand. I felt something crushed there in the back of the foot.”

Today’s quarter-finals
Nadal vs Fish; Murray vs Lopez; Tsonga vs Federer; Tomic vs Djokovic.