London, Jun 28: A seemingly easy Wimbledon 2011 journey for Rafael Nadal has suddenly taken a wrong turn after a left foot injury threatens to ruin his campaign. The defending champion may also opt out of the remaining ties.

Nadal, who is also the highest ranked Men's tennis player suffered the injury during his fourth round win over Juan Martin del Potro. The injury occured during the first set of the match and despite a lengthy medical time-out, the Spaniard still managed to beat del Potro 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

The Spaniard will undergo a scan on Jun 28 to ascertain the seriousness of the injury.

In the post match conference, Nadal said, "I have to go to do an MRI. I don't know right now, I cannot predict the future but I am worried for sure," and added, "I felt really bad at 6-5 in the first set. I thought I had broken my foot at that moment. I asked for the trainer when the game was done. I didn't know if I will have the chance to continue playing."

Speaking about the injury, a grimacing Nadal said, "I don't know what the problem is, it seems to be a problem with the bone in the foot. 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. Now I will have to check with the doctors and the physios. Something is there."

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

Nadal is scheduled to clash with American 10th seed Mardy Fish in the quarter finals of the Men's singles event.

OneIndia News