Nine-times French Open champion Rafael Nadal has unexpectedly pulled out of the French Open citing a left wrist injury. Addressing a hurried news conference at Roland Garros, the Spanish left-hander said, "I have a problem with my wrist... yesterday I played with an injection, I could play but yesterday night I started to feel more and more pain. Today I felt I could not move my wrist."
He announced his withdrawal the day before he would have been scheduled to play in the third round. Nadal wore a blue brace on his wrist during what he called "one of the toughest press conferences in my career." He said that he would not even have tried to compete at any other tournament with the injury, "but it's the most important event of the year for me." The announcement came a day after Nadal earned the 200th Grand Slam victory of his career, a feat only seven other men have accomplished.
At the outset against 99th-ranked Facundo Bagnis of Argentina, a fellow lefty, Nadal was a little tentative and dropped 10 of the first 13 points to trail 0-2, love-30. "True," Nadal acknowledged, "I started slow." Didn't take the nine-time French Open champion long to get going, though. He reeled off 14 of 15 games to seize control along the way to winning 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. Nadal improved to 200-30 in majors, a winning percentage of .870, and 72-2 at Roland Garros.
