Nadal survives Del Potro battle

Rafael Nadal displayed nerves of steel and demonstrated all the qualities of a champion as he kept his Wimbledon title defence alive by coming through a compelling and brutal fourth-round battle with Juan Martin Del Potro.

The Spaniard faced set points, injury problems – he feared he may have broken a bone in his foot at one stage – and was comprehensively outplayed by his opponent at times.

But he edged two tense tie-breaks and finally wore down the 2009 US Open champion in the fourth set to take the match 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4.

Del Potro, seeded 24th following injury but blessed with top-five ability, had a fitness fright of his own but gave Nadal the sort of fight he may not even expect should he reach the final.

However, with 10 grand slam titles on his resume, Nadal is no shrinking violet and, after three hours and 52 minutes of stunning tennis, he took the spoils.

As in his third-round win over Gilles Muller, Nadal found it hard to get away from his opponent in the first set and had to take it on a breaker, although that did not tell the full story.

Del Potro’s serve saved a sixth-game break point, before Nadal was given a time violation warning from the umpire.

Del Potro supported Nadal’s protests, but their unity was cast aside in the 10th game as Del Potro had to save two set points.

Nadal saw another set point pass him by in the 12th game, but he had more to worry about once Del Potro had levelled at 6-6, calling for the trainer to tend to what looked like an ankle injury.

He had received 30 seconds of treatment at the end of the ninth game but was seen to for close to 10 minutes on this occasion, with his constant shaking of the head a worry to those rooting for him.

After coming off court he said: “I don’t what the problem is yet. It seems like the bone in the foot. I don’t know how to explain it properly in English.

“I will get it checked out tomorrow. At one moment at the end of the first set I thought I might have to retire. I changed the position of the foot so I was able to continue bit with the pain.”

Prince William and wife Kate did their best to entertain the crowd during the delay as they joined in with a Mexican wave, before Nadal rose to take the tie-break, seeing off a set point to do so.

Nadal left the court at the end of the set and Del Potro spent the time quizzing the umpire, presumably about why his opponent had been afforded another break.

If Del Potro was upset he did not let it show at the start of the second set, with the power he was putting into his groundstrokes greater than that even Nadal could muster, although he missed a chance to take a break point in the sixth game.

That only delayed what had been coming, though, as, with two break points to save, Nadal hit wildly long and Del Potro became the first player to take a set off the Mallorcan this tournament.

Something was clearly wrong with Nadal, and he frequently chuntered and shook his head between points, while at the other end, Del Potro was flying.

His ground strokes were flatter and crisper than Nadal’s, but, at 2-2, he had a fitness scare of his own.

Nadal nailed a forehand to the left of Del Potro who, while trying to change direction and retrieve it, fell to the floor, staying there for a minute.

He limped to the locker room for a five-minute spell of treatment and hobbled his way back, before loosening up as the pair traded the most brutal of blows.

Not a single break point presented itself throughout the set so another tie-break was called for and, after a couple of wild, nervy shots from both players, Nadal found a way to win it.

Serve prevailed for the first three games of the fourth set too, before Nadal finally took a game from Del Potro, although there was some controversy involved.

Del Potro was 30-15 ahead when his push shot to the baseline was called out. He immediately challenged it, the decision was overturned and Nadal won the replayed point before going on to break.

Words were exchanged between Del Potro and the umpire at the changeover, but when Del Potro creamed two winners beyond Nadal to go 0-30, he looked to be channelling his anger in the right way.

Yet Nadal came back and took the game to go 4-2 ahead and he had the advantage he needed to see things out.