Australian Open: Rafael Nadal Advances After Injury Scare

Rafael Nadal said his back was no longer a worry as he advanced to the next round of the Australian Open after a 7-5 6-2 7-5 victory against Britain’s Cameron Norris.

Nadal, 34, was bidding to move ahead of Roger Federer at the top of the Grand Slam titles list by winning only his second title in Melbourne. He said the most positive aspect of his hird-round win was that the lower back problem that had troubled his build-up and prevented him serving properly, was much improved.

“The back was not getting better each day. It was getting better today,” Nadal, who is tied with Federer on 20 Grand Slam singles titles, said.

“It’s the first day I feel an improvement, and that’s the most important thing for me today, more than any other thing.”

Nadal’s service speeds have been down so far at the tournament but he won 77% of points behind his first serve and an impressive 69% on his second delivery.

“I need to come back to my normal serving,”  Nadal said. “Of course I was not serving my normal serve for the last 15 days.”

“Today is the first day that I started to serve again my normal serve. So of course I didn’t serve bad, but I can do better, I think. And I’m looking forward to do it better.”

“The biggest victory is the back is better for the first day,”  he added.

The record for 2️⃣1️⃣ Grand Slams is still alive