• Australian Open

Nadal dismisses knee injury fears

ESPN staff
January 18, 2012
Rafael Nadal wore heavy strapping on his right knee © PA Photos
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Rafael Nadal has played down fears over a knee injury that threatened to end his Australian Open campaign.

The world No. 2, who admitted he considered withdrawing ahead of his opening-round match against Alex Kuznetsov on Monday, showed no signs of pain as he coasted past Tommy Haas 6-4 6-3 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.

Nadal, who revealed the injury occurred sitting on a chair in his hotel over the weekend, wore heavy strapping on his right knee but dismissed fears that the problem was serious.

"It is much better and I am so happy the knee is improving and I am able to play without pain," he said.

Nadal never looked in danger of losing against his good friend Haas, but although he insisted it was not an easy match, he admitted he was relieved to avoid a gruelling five-set encounter.

"When you play three sets every match is tough," Nadal said. "I cannot say I won easily; of course not. You cannot expect win easily against anybody, and especially not against Tommy Haas. He's a fantastic player. I'm happy to have this strong match early on.

"It was a positive match, but not that demanding. We didn't play four, five hours. It was three sets, so it wasn't that tough."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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