New Delhi, India

In what can only be described as an extremely unusual occurrence, Rafael Nadal recently experienced a self-inflicted mishap that saw him walk away with a bleeding nose during his most recent outing on the court in the US Open.

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Nadal was cruising past Fabio Fognini, 3-0 up in the fourth set of their second-round clash of the US Open, when the unfortunate incident transpired. The bridge of his nose suffered the major brunt of the blow after his racquet ricocheted off the ground on a follow-through of a shot.

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The strike left him dizzy and immediately drew blood as he dropped his racquet and stumbled across the court to lay on the side and allow medical personnel to take a look at the severity of his injury and treat him accordingly. 

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The unfortunate incident delayed play by five minutes. Despite suffering the injury, Nadal pushed through and managed to emerge from the contest triumphantly with the final scorecard reading 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

However, it is interesting to note that Nadal didn't let the injury pull him down as he went on to joke about the same during his post-match interaction with took place on the court. 

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When asked whether he had suffered a similar injury in the past and how he was feeling, Nadal declared, "With a golf club but not with a tennis racket. Well, just a little bit dizzy at the beginning. A little bit painful."

After spending around three years away from the action at New York, Nadal made a boisterous return against Rinky Hijikata, further bolstering his resolve to mount a successful run at the US Open.